Persona
by The Other One 7721
Summary: After using too much chakra Naruto finds himself in a hospital. This wouldn't be a problem, except no one knows who he is! Lying to avoid suspicion, Naruto tries to figure out what's going on. Time Travel.
1. Chapter 1

The earth was shaking. All around hysterical villagers tried to run to the shelter, hoping to get away from the crumbing earth. There wouldn't be enough room in the shelters. The west side of the village was burning, leaving more than half of the shelters useless. The earth shook more violently and a lone old man fell to his knees. The villagers kept running, no one stopping to help the old man struggling to his feet. The building around him crumbled and fell. Not a soul seemed to care that the old man would face his death by the rocks falling toward him.

A gust of wind, stronger than anything natural, blew above the man's head. He looked up and saw the rocks lying on the ground, several feet from their original destination. He turned and saw a man, clearly a shinobi, running toward him. The man grasped his forearm and tugged him to his feet.

"The wall on the east side is still clear, shinobi are keeping it intact. Hurry." The man pushed him slightly in the right direction. The old man turned to thank the stranger for stopping when no one else did, especially since the fire was quickly approaching. It was his first chance to get a good look at his savior. Immediately the old man stiffened. He recognized the blonde hair and blue eyes of his savior. It was the Hokage. With the village crumbling around him, the Hokage had taken the time to help an old man to his feet. As the old man made his way toward the east wall, he knew the village would be okay. How could it not, with a Hokage like that?

oOoOo

Running toward the burning building, Naruto was sure Sakura would kill him if she knew what he was doing. She would hit him and call him a baka, saying that he was the Hokage and should act like it. He should be out by the east wall, helping his shinobi keep the wall from crumbing; it was their last defense. But he had to make sure no one was left. So he kept running west.

Most of the building had already fallen, any hope of life gone. As he went down the streets closer to the wall, Naruto strained his eyes, trying to pick up the slightest sound of a cry. He was half way down the third street when he heard it. It wasn't a scream, like he had expected, but quiet sobbing. He looked around, trying to find the source. At the end of the street was a building that was only partially collapsed. There was enough room for one person to be stuck in. Naruto sent a steady stream of water toward the remains. Once the fire was out, Naruto set to work moving the stones. He wasn't as good as Sakura when it came to strength, but he had been practicing for with putting his chakra into his muscles. With some effort the debris cleared away. The sobbing quieted some, and Naruto saw the source. A boy, maybe ten was curled up on the floor.

Leaning down, Naruto picked the boy up. The boy looked at him with light green eyes, red from crying. Hearing a crashing noise, Naruto looked up. Part of the east side had caught fire, meaning his time of searching was up. His village needed him now. Still carrying the boy, Naruto took off toward the east.

The boy was still crying, but it was no longer the open sobs Naruto had first heard. Looking around he saw Iruka running toward him. "Hokage-sama, the shinobi have been trying to save the village for five hours now, they are nearing their limit." How had a simple comet managed to nearly destroy their village? A few hours earlier a comet, about ten feet in size, crashed into the west wall. The comet had been on fire from its fall, and the crash had disturbed the mountain, causing both fire and earthquakes. Unlike an enemy shinobi, nature had no weaknesses. The earthquakes were subsiding, but the shinobi were exhausted from saving as much of the village as possible, leaving the fire to be the real problem. Naruto looked at the mountain that held the faces of the village Hokage's. An idea hit him.

"Iruka-sensei, please take this boy and go back to the wall." Naruto moved the boy into Iruka's arms.

"What are you thinking?" Iruka was apprehensive. He knew better than anyone else that Naruto's plans were usually a little…eccentric.

"I'm thinking the village needs a little rain." Naruto said with a smirk. Iruka nodded, still clearly worried, and hurried toward the wall with the boy in tow. Naruto needed to get to the Hokage Mountain quickly.

_Kyuubi, now's where I need you._

**So now you ask for my chakra, kit? Why not earlier?**

_I need to use my chakra wisely. Using yours leaves me feeling drained afterwards._

**And now?**

_Now things are different. The village is half destroyed._

**Everything wouldn't been easier if we hadn't been away from the village when the comet first hit. **

Naruto has been on his way back from a meeting with Gaara in Suna, when word had reached him through one of his toads that the village was in trouble. He had still been several miles away from the village. At first he was going to use the Kyuubi's chakra to increase his speed, but had realized it would just leave him exhausted after a few hours, and he had no idea how long this would last.

_It definitely would've been._

Naruto was already on top of the mountain. Looking out, he could see the village in ruins below him. The west side was completely destroyed, nothing but a mess of charred debris. The fire was now spreading throughout more of the east side, he had to act now.

Naruto had only been working on water element for a few weeks now, but with the Kyuubi's help, this would work. Using the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto made the hand seals: _bird, fish, dog, fish, bear, wolf, bird._ Water slowly started to drip from the mountain. Naruto put more chakra into it, causing the water to flow more freely. The Hokage Mountain was turning into a water fall. Naruto realized that in order to keep the water flowing, he had to add more chakra. Naruto smiled when he saw the flames getting dowsed by water. He could sense where the people were, and made sure to keep the water from flowing in the direction.

The fire was nearly out when Naruto first felt his body trembling. He vision became lined with black spots. _What's going on?_

**There's a between your chakra and mine, kit. You've used too much of mine, as well as your own. You need to release the ninjutsu, now or we will die from chakra exhaustion.**

_I can't release it now; the water will just flood the entire village. I need to move it out of the wall so it can spread and level itself out._

**Using more of my chakra will kill you.**

_I need to save my village._

Kyuubi's growl was enough approval for Naruto. Reaching for more chakra, Naruto directed the water's flow to go outside the gate. Once there were no walls to restrict it, the water would spread out and soak into the soil. Before even half of the water was out, the trembling became worse. Naruto gritted his teeth. He had to get the water out. He reached for more chakra.

Naruto fell to his knees, his body shaking uncontrollably. With his fall, his concentration broke, and he lost control of the water. Panicking, Naruto looked at the village. Most of the water was outside the gate and the remaining water wasn't enough to damage the village. He had succeeded. The black spots returned, and soon everything was black. Naruto felt his body fall forward, landing on the hard rock. Then he felt nothing.

oOoOo

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. The darkness and the water on the ground immediately told him he was in his mindscape. Standing up, Naruto walked toward where he knew the Kyuubi was. Unlike usual, he couldn't fell the Kyuubi's chakra. He turned the corner and saw the cage that held the Kyuubi. The great beast was lying on the ground, his breathing unsteady.

"What's wrong, Kyuubi?" Naruto slowly approached the demon.

Kyuubi opened his eyes. **"I am drained of my chakra. It will take me several days to recover my strength."**

Kyuubi was weakened? "How can the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_be drained of chakra?"

Kyuubi growled at him. **"I warned you that there was a balance between your chakra and mine, you should've stopped when I warned you to. You should've learned water before fire. If you had then you wouldn't have been exhausted by such a simple technique."**

"We can't change the past, so quit trying to make me feel bad about my choice of elements." Naruto walked over to Kyuubi and put his hand through the cage. He stroked the Kyuubi's fur. "I am sorry that I had to rely on you so much. I'll improve so I won't drain you again."

"**Just wake up so I can start refueling with some of your chakra. It should speed up my recovery."**

Naruto nodded and sat on the wet floor. He had discovered that meditation was the easiest way to return to his body. He felt a shift in his mind. He was in his body again. Bright light assaulted him as he opened his eyes. He was in a white room, and there was a beeping noise to his left. A quick look around confirmed that he was in a hospital. He grew irritated. He hated hospitals. He knew he passed out, but that shouldn't require a hospital visit. Tsunade should've just brought him home. He always woke up within a day anyway. A nurse that he didn't recognize walked in. She smiled when she saw he was awake.

"How are you feeling?" The nurse asked in a sweet voice.

"I'm great. There's no need for me to be in the hospital anymore." The nurse eyed him skeptically.

"You came here with severe chakra exhaustion, and it's only been a day, we can't just release you because you say you feel fine. Now let me take your vitals." The nurse set to work reading and recording what the machines said about his health. Of course he was fine. This nurse must be new, since she obviously didn't know that Naruto would only escape from the hospital if he wasn't released. A knock sounded on the door. Naruto and the nurse both looked. In the doorway stood a shinobi, his back was straight and his face firm, which confused Naruto. Who was this guy and why was he looking at the Hokage like that?

"Ito-san, what can I help you with?" Though the nurse asked, her face indicated she knew why he was here.

"Is he stable enough to question?" Ito's voice was just as firm as his looks. The nurse nodded. Glancing back at Naruto once, she left the room. Now he was really confused. Why was Ito, whom Naruto was shocked he didn't know, questioning him? What had happened in the past day for the Hokage to be put in such a situation?

Ito walked to the chair by the window and sat down. He stared at Naruto for a minute before he started his questioning. "How did you come to be passed out on top of the Hokage Mountain?"

Was that why he was being question? If so, why didn't Tsunade or Kakashi ask? Was it really even that important? "I used too much chakra while putting out the fire. It left me exhausted."

Ito kept staring. "And why were you on top of the Hokage Mountain?"

"It gave me the best vantage point to put out the flames." Why did it matter? He was the Hokage, he shouldn't have to sit here and be questioned.

"How did putting out a fire leave you so drained?"

Now Naruto was frustrated. It wasn't any of the guys business. He was about to tell Ito that when he recalled what he had been working on with Kakashi: patience. Taking a deep breath, Naruto answered. "I was using a new technique and I didn't understand it properly. It left me more drained than I should've been."

Ito looked content with his answer. Standing from his chair, he headed for the door. He was in the doorway when he suddenly turned around. "I did have one more question." Naruto waited as Ito studied his appearance once more. "What's your name?"

_What?_

**A/N: I know fanfics about Naruto going into the past and meeting Minato have been overdone, but I was getting frustrated with most of the stories being discontinued. My solution? Write my own! I will be honest and say that I will be slow in updating, but I am determined to finish this story. I will be glad to answer questions about the plot, as long as I don't think it will spoil what I have planned for later. Please take a few seconds to review. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

They were supposed to have left an hour ago. Minato sighed as he waited for his final student to arrive. Obito was always late. For the past year, Minato had been trying to get Obito to show up on time, but his ideas never seemed to work. He had even resorted to telling Obito to arrive at an earlier time than Kakashi and Rin, but he was somehow still later than the others.

Next to him Rin was fidgeting, clearly getting tired of waiting for her teammate. Kakashi was leaning against the gate, his irritation not visible. The sound of heavy footsteps alerted him to Obito's arrival. "Sorry I'm late! A merchant knocked over his vegetable stand and I stopped to help pick them up."

"Nothing should keep you from being on time. As a shinobi you shouldn't allow civilian problems to hold you up." Kakashi's tone was haughty.

"It's just a scouting mission, no one is in danger." Obito bit back.

"And what if the mission had been upgraded during the night? You would've been late and we would've been a person short. Not that it matters, since you aren't even a good shinobi." Kakashi was now standing up. Obito opened his mouth to retort, when Minato decided it was time to step in. "Obito, Kakashi, focus on the mission."

His team of two genin and one chuunin turned their attention towards him. "Our job is to scout the area within a 20 mile radius of the southern gate of Konoha. It should take us two days. The mission is a C rank. We will split into pairs, but we will be within a mile to each other at all times. Rin and Kakashi, you two will be together. Kakashi, I want you to use the tracking skills I taught you to make sure you remain within a mile of Obito and me." Kakashi mumbled something. Minato was pretty sure the words 'Obito,' 'loud,' and 'mile' where somewhere in the sentence. "Rin, because Kakashi will be focusing on us, you will be examining the surrounding area." Rin nodded. "Obito you're going to make sure we don't drift away from Rin and Kakashi."

"Sensei, if Kakashi is keeping track of us, why should we have to keep track of them?"

"Because Rin and I could find something that causes us to stop. If we stop, and you aren't keeping track of us, we will be separated and the situation could become dangerous. Baka." Kakashi said. Obito clenched his fist and took a step toward Kakashi.

"That's enough. Since we are already an hour late it is best we leave now." His team nodded, but he saw Obito stick his tongue out at Kakashi.

oOoOo

Why did he have to get stuck with such an arrogant teammate? Obito was sure that no one had ever had to suffer with such a teammate. Kakashi was unbearable! He acted like he was so cool. Just because he was a genius and had become a chuunin when he was eight, did not make him a better shinobi! As soon as his sharingan developed, Obito would show him!

At least Sensei had been smart enough to put Obito and Kakashi on separate teams. Though it should've been him paired with Rin, not Kakashi.

"Obito, how far are we from Kakashi and Rin?" Minato's voice broke him out of his thoughts. _Shoot_. He hadn't been paying attention. He focused his chakra into his hand and lightly touched the tree he was resting on. The others were half a mile away. "Only half a mile." Minato started jumping through the trees again. Obito took off to catch up to him. "Minato-sensei, why are we patrolling this area?"

"There was a fire in the woods yesterday. From what we've gathered, it wasn't natural. It could be anything. The Sandaime wants to make sure that nothing is endangering the village. I explained that last night." Of course Obito hadn't been listening. Minato briefly wondered how he ended up with such a…_unique_ team. It was a good time to talk to Obito about his lateness. "Obito, why can't you ever arrive on time?"

"I always intend to make it, but stuff happens. Some days I sleep in, others I forget where I put my weapons." Obito shrugged. "I know it's important for me to be on time, but every morning something happens that keeps me from showing up on time." Obito decided not to mention that some of the Uchiha teens hid his things on a daily basis. Obito wasn't exactly the ideal Uchiha.

"Please just try harder. Right now it might not seem like a big deal, but once you start getting harder mission, it will be." There was silence for a minute. "I am entering you and Rin in the chuunin exam coming up in two weeks."

Once again, Obito stopped. "Chuunin? That is so cool!" He pumped his fist into the air. "I am going to be a chuunin in two weeks!" Minato wanted to point out that a high percentage failed the chuunin exams, but decided against it. It wouldn't faze Obito anyway.

oOoOo

Kakashi was enjoying the quite that came from being separated from Obito. For the past year all Obito had accomplished was being loud and obnoxious. When Kakashi had first learned that he was being put on a team a with two genin, he had hated the idea. He was a chuunin shinobi, two genin would only hold him back. He had accepted the idea a bit more when he learned that his sensei would be Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Yellow Flash, and that one of the genin was an Uchiha. Then he met the team and he hated the idea once again. Obito was everything an Uchiha was not. Where most Uchiha's were quiet genius', Obito was a loud idiot. Kakashi sometimes thought that the reason Obito still didn't have his sharingan was because he didn't act like an Uchiha. Maybe somehow the kekkei genkei skipped Obito because he wasn't an Uchiha at heart.

"Rin are there any chakra spikes?"

"Rin shook her head. "There are small wavelengths of chakra, but with the village this close, that's nothing unusual." Kakashi nodded and kept moving.

Rin snuck several glances at Kakashi. It was true that she had a crush on him, but she hated when they were alone. It was always too quiet. Kakashi was a mystery to her. He never opened up to anyone, not even Minato. Even for a shinobi, it couldn't be healthy to keep of his emotions bottled up.

They jumped in silence for hours before Rin felt something. From what she could feel, it was a person, but there was no chakra emanating from them. She told Kakashi.

"If there's no chakra, then it's probably just a civilian. We should still check it out." Kakashi turned to go in the direction Rin had indicated.

"It probably is a civilian." But it didn't feel like one. Rin didn't know how to describe the feeling she had, but it was like she knew that whoever it was, was someone extremely powerful. She took the lead, Kakashi just followed her silently.

"We're getting closer to the Hokage Mountain." Kakashi noted from behind her. She hadn't noticed, but the path they were on headed straight towards the monument. They were still four miles from the mountain when Rin saw the body. It was lying face down, completely still. Rin couldn't help but think that the person might be dead. She had never seen anyone look so still.

As she and Kakashi got closer, the first thing Rin noticed about him was his hair. It was the same color blonde as Minato's, which was unusual. Most of the villagers had dark colored hair. Rin knelt next to the body to see if he had a pulse. It was faint, but steady. Slowly, Rin and Kakashi turned the man over so he was now on his back. Rin was once again surprised. He looked a lot like Minato. Kakashi seemed to be surprised as well, for he stared at the man for a moment before looking at her. She nodded and inserted a small amount of chakra into the man's body. He didn't have any external or internal injuries. His only problem seemed to be chakra exhaustion. Rin had never seen someone in the state of exhaustion this man was in. There wasn't a trace of chakra left in his body. This man should be dead, but he wasn't. Rin was training to be a medic nin, but this was beyond her knowledge.

"Minato-sensei and Obito are almost here." Kakashi said.

oOoOo

As soon as Obito told Minato that Kakashi and Rin had suddenly changed course, they had done the same. There wasn't any urgency in Kakashi and Rin's pace, so Minato wasn't worried. The clearing where the two had stopped was up ahead. The first thing Minato noticed was Rin's face, which looked confused. The second was the body of a teenager. Minato quickly assessed that the man was still in his teens, probably eighteen or nineteen. He was wearing the standard shinobi vest, marking him as a shinobi without a hitai-ate. All other thoughts stopped when he saw the man's face. It wasn't quite the same as looking in a mirror, but it was close. The man's hair was the same color as his, and his face was shaped similarly. The biggest different came from the twin set of whisker-like scars on the man's cheeks.

"What's his condition, Rin?"

"He's exhausted all of his chakra; and I mean all. I know he's used chakra before, but there isn't a trace of any left. He should be dead." Minato nodded.

"We need to get him back to Konoha." Minato didn't like the idea of leaving his team, but Kakashi was a chuunin. If he was older, he would be in charge of his own team right now. "I'm going to take him to the hospital. I want you three to finish the mission together. Kakashi, you're now the leader." Kakashi and Rin nodded, but Obito grumbled about Kakashi being in charge of him. "Obito, a good shinobi does his best, no matter if he likes his leader of not." Obito reluctantly nodded.

Minato carefully picked up the body. It was for occasions like this that he was glad for his Hiraishin no Jutsu . Within seconds Minato was at the hospital. The nurses immediately took the man's from his arms. "Do you know what his condition is, Minato-san?"

"My student said he has severe chakra exhaustion." The nurse nodded and the man was placed on a stretcher. Not knowing what to do now, Minato sat down in the waiting room. He would stay until there was new news on the man's condition. In the meantime, he was left to ponder why the man looked so much like him. Rin said that the man had used chakra before so the man was probably a shinobi. What had caused this man to lose all chakra? Nothing unusual had happened in Konoha except the fire. And the fire could be something as simple as a shinobi being ashamed to admit he had lost control during training. Was that how the man exhausted his chakra?

Minato looked up when he noticed a nurse making her way toward him. He stood to his feet and met her by the reception desk. "What's the man's condition?"

"Your student was correct in diagnosing the problem as chakra exhaustion. I have never seen anyone so drained. I don't know how the man managed to stay alive, but we were able to stable him. It'll probably be five to six days before he regains consciousness." The nurse glanced down at her folder. "Can you please notify the Hokage? I know I should put the report in myself, but we are short on staff today." The nurse was fidgeting slightly. Minato hadn't even thought that it would have to be reported to the Hokage that an unknown shinobi had been found. Stupid.

"I'll do that now. Please, update me on the man's condition." When the nurse nodded, he left. Walking toward the Hokage Manor, Minato wondered again how the man came to be in the woods.

**A/N: I actually had this chapter written before I posted the first chapter, just so you know why I'm updating so quickly. This chapter was harder to write than the last chapter. All four of the characters have personalities that we don't know much about. The easiest person to write was Kakashi, which surprised me. There is so little about Rin, even in Kakashi Gaiden, that I'm just going to have to make her my own.**


	3. Chapter 3

Ito didn't know who he was? He was the Hokage; all of the shinobi should know who he was.

**Unless you're not in Konoha.**

Naruto looked at Ito, still standing in the doorway. The man had a hitai-ate with the leaf symbol. Until he got out of the hospital, that would be as close to confirmation as he could get. As soon as Ito left, he could sneak out and see if the village was familiar. He had collapsed at the top of the Hokage Mountain, surely no enemy shinobi had been able to kidnap him while he was unconscious. And if they had, why would they put him in a hospital? This had to be Konoha, but why didn't Ito know who he was.

Naruto looked at Ito again and realized the man was still waiting for his name. He thought about lying, just in case, but he was well known in too many places for a false name to last more than a day. "Naruto." Ito didn't acknowledge him again, he just turned and left.

Finally alone, Naruto swung his legs over the side of the hospital bed. Grabbing the IV stand, he made his way over to the window. The view from the window looked like Konoha. The stores were in the same location, and the front gate bore the leaf symbol. Comforted with the familiar view, Naruto started to plan his escape.

**You forgot something, Kit.**

What? The village looked the same as it had…the fire! Looking back out the window, Naruto saw no traces of there being a natural disaster. In fact, now that he looked closer, the ground was higher than it had been when he collapsed. It looked more like it had before Pein's attack. What was going on?

_What do you think this is?_

**I agree that this is certainly Konoha, but not the Konoha we know.**

_This can't be a genjutsu. Our merged chakra immediately gets us out of any illusion._

**Find a calendar.**

_Why?_

**I can only conclude that we are at some point in the past.**

_How is that even possible? _

**I don't know. This is definitely Konoha, just not the Konoha we were last in.**

Was time travel really possible? Naruto groaned. If it had happened to him, clearly it was possible. At least he hadn't been wearing his hitai-ate when he collapsed. Now he wouldn't have to find a way to explain how an unregistered shinobi bore a Konoha hitai-ate. What time period was he in anyway? As much as he wanted to get out of the hospital, he would probably get the most answers if he was patient. Stupid Kakashi, why'd he have to harp on the importance of patience? Barging in and demanding an answer was so much more fun.

oOoOo

Maybe she did prefer Kakashi's quietness to Obito's loudness. With the exception of when he was asleep, Obito had been talking nonstop about the Chuunin Exams.

"And I'll be the same rank as Kakashi, so I won't have to suffer another mission with him in charge."

"You only become a chuunin if you pass the exam. Knowing you, you'll fail." Obito rolled his eyes at Kakashi.

In an attempt to shut up Obito, Rin spoke up. "Kakashi, I know you were a special case, but doesn't the chuunin exam call for a three man cell to participate?"

Kakashi looked back at her. "A three man cell is advantageous, but the rule is that every genin on the team must agree to take the exam. Since you and Obito are the only genin you will be allowed to take the exam."

"But we'll be at a disadvantage."

"Who cares? I bet I could pass the entire exam without any help!" Obito sped ahead, as if trying to prove his point by being the fastest. Rin shook her head. Obito really was a lost cause.

Two more hours until they would meet up with Minato at Ichiraku's. The ramen stand had opened up a few months ago, and had quickly become their favorite place. After every mission they went there to unwind. At least Obito listened when Minato told him to stop talking. Most of the time.

oOoOo

No longer having to focus on remaining close to anyone, Kakashi allowed himself to think about the man they had found yesterday. He had looked so much like his sensei. Maybe they were related. Minato didn't seem to know who the man was, but there had been instances where long lost relatives met each other under unusual circumstances. Oh, great. Now he was starting to sound like Obito.

The idiot was still going on about becoming a chuunin. Like he had what it took to be a chuunin. Obito would probably fail the first test.

Kakashi was relieved to see the tree line thinning, and the gate of Konoha coming into focus. Hopefully, Minato knew more about the man's condition than they had known yesterday. Kakashi would die before he let it known, but he was curious as to who the stranger was.

Making their way into town, Obito led the way to Ichiraku's. As the familiar stand came into view, Minato was already waiting for them.

"How did you know when we would be back?" Obito asked as he, once again, ran ahead.

"Oh, I just calculated your arrival time by the distance you had to cover and the speed you were going at. With an estimated time for rests, I figured you'd be here within the hour." Minato grinned.

"You put one of your marks on this place didn't you? You heard that we had arrived from the front gate and used you Hiraishin no Jutsu." Rin accused. Minato looked guilty. "Sensei, you said that you didn't want to use that jutsu except in battles or emergencies. You said it could lead to becoming lazy."

Minato caught Kakashi's eye. "I had been talking to the Hokage. I didn't want you to have to wait long, so I used it." Translation: I know Obito must be talking nonstop about the chuunin exams and I decided not to prolong your suffering.

"Let's eat!" Obito didn't wait for them. He sat down on a stool and ordered two bowls of pork miso. Minato sat on Obito's left, while Rin sat on Obito's left. Thankful for the empty seat next to his sensei, Kakashi sat down. After ordering Kakashi decided to ask about the man.

"Anything new?"

Minato shook his head. "Rin was right about the chakra exhaustion. The nurse said that it could be another five days before he wakes up."

"That's not surprising. The man should be dead. Do the nurses have any idea what caused him to survive?"

"Not that they told me. Shinobi strong and weak would've died from that level of chakra exhaustion."

Kakashi looked at his sensei closely. His eyebrows were furrowed, like he was thinking a problem through. "You don't think it has anything to do with fuinjustu, do you, Minato-sensei?"

When Minato looked at him, Kakashi could see that he was surprised that Kakashi had guessed his thoughts. "I think it's possible. If it is fuinjustu, there should be a seal on him."

A seal of some kind would be the best outcome. Seal masters like Minato and Jiraiya might even be able to copy the seal and use it. If shinobi were able to exhaust their chakra without dying…that would help win the war.

"Minato-san!" Kakashi looked behind him at the same time Minato did. The woman hurrying toward them was a nurse from the hospital. Panting to catch her breath, the nurse paused before explaining why she was there.

"You said to update you on the man's condition. He woke up." The nurse was still trying to breathe properly.

Minato eyes widened. "You said it would take several days for him to wake up."

The nurse nodded. "It should have. I have no idea how he woke up this quickly. Ito-san is questioning him right now."

"Would it be alright if I talk to him after Ito-san is finished?"

"It should be fine. If the man is tired, you'll have to wait for him to wake up, though."

"I'll be there after I finish lunch."

The nurse nodded and turned to leave. "Thank you, Minato-sensei, for taking the report to the Hokage for me yesterday." Her cheeks had turned pink.

"You're welcome." Minato looked uncomfortable. Kakashi kid a snicker. His sensei had a lot of fan girls.

oOoOo

Minato tried not to rush through his ramen, but he was curious about the man. Hopefully, Ito was still there and he could ask what Ito had already learned from the man. He really wanted to know how the man exhausted his chakra and then lived. He prayed to Kami that the man wasn't sleeping when he got there. If he was, then Minato would stick around the hospital waiting room until he woke up.

"Sensei, can you tell us what you learn about that man? We're all curious too." Rin asked as he finished the last of his ramen.

"I'll tell you what I can, but I probably won't be able to tell you everything." Rin nodded, but looked disappointed.

Minato paid Teuchi and got up. The hospital was a ten minute walk from the ramen stand. Minato was tempted to use his Hiraishin, but Rin was right. He had said he wouldn't use it except in special circumstances. It would tempt him to become lazy if he used it to get everywhere. Besides, it was nice to see some of the villagers he had grown up with. He was familiar with most of the vendors, and waved to them as he passed by.

Minato entered the hospital and went straight to the reception desk. "I brought a man with chakra exhaustion in here yesterday. I was told he was awake and that I would be able to visit with him."

"He's in room 327." Minato didn't ask how the woman knew who he was talking about already. She was probably working yesterday when he brought the man in. Thanking her, Minato went to the stairwell. He was on the second floor when he saw Ito descending.

"Ito-san, I was hoping I'd catch you."

Ito stopped at the second floor platform. "What can I help you with, Minato-san?"

"Can you tell me anything about the man you just finished questioning? I'm heading to his room to speak to him."

"The man's name is Naruto and he claims to have exhausted his chakra putting the fire out yesterday. His reason for the exhaustion is that he isn't that good with water element and couldn't control his chakra."

"Thank you, Ito-san." Minato passed Ito and continued onto the third floor. Naruto, huh? That was a strange name. The door to room 327 was cracked open when Minato arrived, so he pushed it open and walked in without knocking. Naruto was sitting up on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He looked at Minato once the door was fully opened. Immediately, his eyes widened in what appeared to be shock.

"I'm sorry for startling you." Minato apologized. Naruto continued to stare before he jerked out of it.

"Oh, it…it's fine." Naruto stuttered.

"It was my team that found you yesterday. I came here to ask you some questions." Minato took Naruto's silence as an invitation to ask. Sitting in the only chair in the room, Minato looked again at the man. Naruto really did look like him. His blonde hair was the same as his own, and now that Naruto was awake, his eyes were the same shade of blue as well. "How old are you?"

Naruto jumped at the question having probably expected something related to his stay in the hospital. "Nineteen." So Minato had been right about his age. Naruto was only two years his junior. "I haven't seen you around before, are you a Konoha shinobi?"

Again, Naruto waited before answering. "No. My village was Getsu (Hidden Village Under the Moon). I recently left. I didn't agree with the politics." Minato nodded. He didn't know much about Getsu, just that the village usually sent a few representatives to the Chuunin Exams.

"Why come to Konoha?"

Pause. "After I left I met a Konoha shinobi. He kept talking about 'The Will of Fire.' It made me curious."

"Is water your element affinity?"

Pause. "Yes."

"If you aren't that good with water jutsus, why didn't you find help?"

"It wasn't a big fire; I figured I could deal with it. I didn't expect to be drained of my chakra."

"What are you plans now?"

This pause was longer than the others. "I was wondering if I could become a Konoha shinobi. From what I've seen, I really like this village."

It was hard to consider letting a stranger join the ranks of Konoha shinobi, but Naruto certainly didn't appear as an enemy. If Ito reported that Naruto wasn't going to harm them, then maybe the Sandaime would agree to it. "It could be possible." Minato studied Naruto again. "I do have another question. Do you know why you were able to survive after using all of your chakra?"

Pause. "I've always been able to. I think I might have a kekkei genkei that no one told me about." That was possible.

A knock drew both their attention. A nurse was in the doorway, this one older than the previous. "I'm sorry to interrupt your questioning, Minato-san, but Naruto-san needs to rest."

"I'm not tired!" Naruto's outburst shocked Minato. The man had been so reserved until then.

"Even if you don't feel tired, your body is still recovering. Please, try to sleep."

Minato stood from his chair. "I'll stop by soon, Naruto-san. Please, listen to the nurse." Minato left the room. He needed to report this to the Hokage.

oOoOo

Naruto had been trying to figure out what time he was in by going over everything he knew about this Konoha, when the Yondaime walked in. The_ Yondaime!_ Not just the village hero and his personal hero, but his dad. He had just had a conversation with his _dad!_ His long_ dead _dad.

**At least we know around what time we are in.**

It took Naruto a minute to clear his thoughts enough to understand what Kyuubi had said.

_Right. The Yondaime is alive, which puts this before my birth. He said he had a team, which probably means Kakashi-sensei's team. And the nurse referred to him as 'Minato-san' not 'Hokage-sama.'_ Naruto took a second to calculate the time span. _We are between twenty-three to twenty-five years in the past. How is this possible?_


	4. Chapter 4

Minato wasn't sure if Naruto was telling the truth about how he ended up in Konoha, but the man didn't seem like he was dangerous to them. Naruto's survival and recovery was still a mystery, leaving Minato to still be slightly suspicious. How could anyone have that kind of healing abilities? The only explanation was what Naruto himself had supplied: kekkei genkei. He had never heard of the bloodline, but there were many kekkei genkei that were unknown.

If was due to these uncertainties that Minato now found himself in the Hokage's office. "Hokage-sama, what the man told me matches with what he told Ito-san. A bit of his story seems unbelievable, but it is all possible. He said that he thinks he has a kekkei genkei."

The Sandaime, who already looked worried, straightened at the mention of a kekkei genkei. "What makes him assume he has a kekkei genkei?"

"He believes that's why he survived and recovered so quickly."

"A kekkei genkei is a possibility. There have been bloodlines known to affect a man's body: extended life, unbreakable bones, obviously the sharingan and byakugan. If it is a kekkei genkei then there will be no way to physically see it unless it is in use."

"So we can't confirm or deny what Naruto said."

"Correct. With this we only have his word. What is his purpose for being in Konoha?" This seemed to be the root of the Sandaime's worry.

"He said that he met a Konoha shinobi that told him about the Will of Fire. Naruto said that it interested him, so he decided to come to Konoha and see for himself."

"Do you believe what Naruto claims or do you believe he is a threat to the village."

That's what the problem came down to. Minato couldn't help but be skeptical to Naruto's intentions, but he was certain that the man wasn't a threat. There was just something about Naruto that caused him to trust him. "I don't think he is telling the entire truth, but I also don't believe he is a threat. He seems to truly want to be a Konoha shinobi. He said he really likes the village."

The Sandaime was quiet. Minato could see the evidence that he was deep in thought. The Hokage's eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed to be staring at the report in front of him. "We have granted wandering shinobi the right to join Konoha before. I will have to meet Naruto personally to discern his intentions myself. Were you told when Naruto will be released from the hospital?"

Minato nodded. "They are keeping him overnight, but the nurse told me that he is almost fully recovered. With the rate he's already recovering at he should be released tomorrow morning."

"After he is released please escort him here. The sooner we talk the better." The Sandaime smiled at him. "Your students turned their report in earlier. They did well on their own."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." He was proud of his students. He hadn't been sure that Kakashi and Obito would make it. He had never seen two teammates fight like those two did. He pitied the sensei that had a more dysfunctional team than him.

oOoOo

Just a few more hours. The nurse had informed Naruto the previous night that it looked like he was going to be released in the morning. He had fallen asleep easily enough, but had woken up around four. For the past two hours he had nothing to do but go over the basics of chakra control and usage. Kakashi would be so proud of how he was spending his time.

_Tick. Tick._ He was going to break that clock. With everyone being asleep the room was too quiet. He heard everything: the nurses outside the room, the trees hitting the window, and that _stupid clock._ Any minute now. The nurse should be back to check on him any minute.

**Calm down, Kit. I'm trying to rest.**

_Since when do you need rest?_

**Since you almost killed me.**

_Oh…Sorry about that._

Thirty minutes later the nurse walked in. The nurse's nametag read Hitari. She smiled at him but didn't speak. She looked at his vitals and recorded them in her notebook. "It looks like your body is fully recovered. I've never seen something like this happen before."

_If you were from my time you would._ He had never stayed in a hospital for more than three days, the longest time being when he fought Sasuke at the Valley of the End. "Does this mean I can go?"

The nurse smiled at him like would a child. "Well, you seem eager to get out of here. I don't see a reason you can't leave. I'll go get the release forms." Hitari left still wearing her smile.

Finally, freedom.

"You seem a little too happy to be leaving." Naruto jumped, surprised that someone had managed to sneak up on him. The Yondaime stood in front of him.

**He's not the Yondaime yet.**

"I hate hospitals. I always have." He couldn't believe his father was standing in front of him. How many times had he dreamed of knowing who his parents were? And then after finding out dreaming of what it would've been like to know them? Maybe he had that chance now.

"I can understand not liking hospitals, but I've never been as anxious as you to get out of here." The Yondaim-_Minato_- teased. It felt surreal. His father was visiting him while he was in the hospital. But Minato didn't know he was his father, so why was he here?

"Why are you here?" Naruto voiced his thoughts.

"What? You don't want me here?" Minato leaned against the wall. "The Hokage would like to speak with you and he asked me to escort you. As soon as the release forms are finished, we'll head over to the Hokage Manor."

"Where are my clothes?" Minato stood up and walked over to a table across the room. The table had a shelf with columns in it. Minato reached into one of the columns and pulled out his clothes. "Thank you."

"I'm going to check if the paperwork is finished yet." Minato said as he handed Naruto his clothes. Naruto nodded. After Minato left, Naruto changed out of his hospital gown. When he collapsed he had been wearing a jonins standard outfit: blue pants and shirt and a green vest. All of his clothing as well as his weapons pouch was there. The only thing missing was his hitai-ate.

_Why would they take my hitai-ate? Oh, no. If they see my Leaf hitai-ate, then they'll know I'm not from Getsu! _Wait_! I remember now; it fell off back in our time. Whew, at least we don't have to worry about our cover being blown._

**Yet.**

_Always the optimist._

Minato came back several minutes after Naruto finished getting dressed. "Everything's set. Follow me."

It was strange, following Minato around. Naruto had always assumed his father was a serious person. Minato was light-hearted, teasing him and making offhand comments about Konoha. Despite his many trips to the Hokage Manor, this was Naruto's first time considering it fun. As they entered the building, Naruto was reminded how much it had changed from the Sandaime's time. The walls were still red, the ceiling was still white, and Naruto was pretty sure that was the same receptionist desk. The décor was what was different. The Sandaime kept things simple: a plaque here, a proverb there, nothing overly personal. Naruto had pictures of all of Konoha's heroes on the walls, including the White Fang. (He never said it, but Naruto was sure it meant a lot to Kakashi.)

The receptionist looked up as they approached. "Hokage-sama told me to send you back, Minato-san."

Minato said thank you and walked past the desk. Naruto really didn't need Minato showing him were the Hokage's office was, it _had_ become his own office, but it was best not to let that out. Minato stopped at the door to the office and knocked. After being told to enter, Minato opened the door. Naruto was startled by how much younger the Sandaime looked. He had known that the Sandaime was alive and had to be younger, he just wasn't expecting how much younger he looked. The Sandaime Naruto knew was completely gray, had a bend to his posture, and had many wrinkles. This Sandaime still had some color in his hair, sat up straight, and had significantly less wrinkles. Naruto wondered, not for the first time, how many years the Yondaime's death and Orochimaru's betrayal put on the Sandaime.

The Sandaime looked started to see him at first. Naruto assumed no one mentioned how much he looked like Minato. The Sandaime stared at him for a few seconds before turning his attention to Minato. "Thank you for escorting him here. I would like to talk with him alone." Minato bowed his head and left.

Left alone with the Sandaime, Naruto felt unsure what to say. The Sandaime was quiet, studying him. After what felt like minutes, the Sandaime spoke. "My subordinates have told me your story, but I would like to hear it from you."

Hopefully he remembered his lie. "I'm a shinobi, originally from Getsu. I grew to dislike the politic of Getsu and left the village. During my time of wandering, I met a Konoha shinobi. He had such pride in his village that it intrigued me. I came by the south entrance. I saw the fire and attempted to use water jutsu, but I struggled with my chakra control and I ended up exhausting all of my chakra."

"And how is it you survived being completely drained of your chakra? And your recovery?"

"I don't know the reason for sure, but I believe both can be attributed to a kekkei genkei." Or, you know, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

The Sandaime was quiet again. After another minute or two, he spoke. "I can't find fault within your story. Ito-san and Minato-san both told me your story and I found nothing to disprove what you've said. Without any evident against you, I believe you." Naruto released his breath. He didn't know what he'd do if the Sandaime didn't believe him. "Minato-san mentioned you were interested in becoming a Konoha shinobi."

"Yes. Just from the hospital care and your treatment of me, I can tell there is something special about this village."

"What rank where you when you left Getsu?"

Might as well be honest. "Genin."

The Sandaime nodded. "Very well. If you had been higher ranking I would have tested your skill, instead I will assign you to a genin team."

"Aren't the teams already made up of three-men cells?"

"Yes, but a team with a medic shinobi could have a fourth man added. I will give you your assignment tomorrow. Do you have money for tonight?"

Thankfully he kept his money in his pants pocket. "Yes, Hokage-sama. I have enough to last me until the end of the week."

"I will have Ikuto-san show you around town." Within moments, said shinobi was inside the room. Ikuto motioned for Naruto to follow him.

_Great, I bet I'm going to get stuck with D-rank missions. Hopefully it doesn't take too long for me to move up in the ranks._

**Maybe you could actually get promoted to chuunin this time.**

_I could have previously. There just wasn't a reason to._

**Kit, I believe you should only use skills on a genin level. You shouldn't know most of your techniques, especially Kage Bunshin, Rasengan, and Sage Mode.**

_I agree. I'll mostly rely on taijutsu and water techniques. This will give me a chance to improve my water jutsu's. And I'm not going to be relying on you, Kyuubi. I don't want anyone here to know I'm a jinchuuriki._

Naruto paused when he realized he had already resigned himself to being here long term.

oOoOo

Minato had been expecting to get summoned to the Hokage's office for a second time. The Sandaime was probably going to fill him in on his decision about Naruto.

"How can I help you, Hokage-sama?" Minato bowed his head in respect.

"I agree with you about Naruto. He seems genuine, but not everything he's said rings true. I've decided to trust him and give him the benefit of the doubt. I also approved his request to join the ranks of Konoha shinobi."

Minato hadn't expected that. "When are you going to test him?"

"It seems that will not be necessary. He is only a genin rank. It would be best to put him on a genin team with a medic shinobi, in order to keep balance to the teams. I believe the best solution would be your team."

"What? My team?"

"With Rin-chan's specialty being in the medical field, it would be good for your team to have another shinobi for battles. Do you have any reason for Naruto to not be placed on your team?"

"I don't know much about his personality, and I'm afraid he could clash with Obito or Kakashi."

"That is an unknown factor, but I believe your team will overcome it. This also solves another one of your problem?" When Minato looked confused, the Sandaime continued. "You will have three genin on your team, which takes away from Rin and Obito's previous disadvantage during the chuunin exams."

That only gave Rin, Obito, and Naruto two weeks to start operating like a team. And even if they were training for the chuunin exams together, he also needed to make sure Kakashi developed team work with the new addition as well. It was going to be hard, adding a new member after a year of them being a team, but it could be done.

"My team meets at trained field 3 at eight in the morning."

"I'll make sure he knows."

Minato bowed again and left. He hoped Naruto was good at working on a team. Years as a wanderer taught you to work alone. He knew; he had seen it in Jiraiya.

**A/N: I can't believe I'm up to chapter four a week from first posting this. I've been writing in most of my spare time, like right before I go to bed or between shifts at work. This is the first chapter where I've known what I wanted to say before I actually started writing. For every other chapter I had a general idea, but the conversations were unplanned. **

**I would ask that you please review. It kinda frustrates me when I get tons of story alerts but no reviews for the story. I want to know your opinion.**


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto walked the path he knew led to training field 3. The Sandaime didn't come out and say which team he would be assigned to, but Naruto suspected it would be Minato's. Adding a fourth member to a team would be difficult, the only place it could really be beneficial would be on a team with a medic shinobi. From Kakashi, Naruto knew that Team Minato was one of the few teams during the Third Great Shinobi War that had a medic specialist. Naruto tried not to get excited about the idea of spending time with his father, or even better, training with his father. He didn't know why he was here or how long he would be here. It would be best to not get attached to anyone. Still, he couldn't deny that he was a _little_ excited.

It had been weird walking down the streets of Konoha that morning. Naruto had become used to the stares of the villagers. When he was young they would stare at him and talk about him with disgust, then it changed to curiosity, and now it was awe. He hated it when people stared at him; he had long ago given up his desire to be acknowledged by everyone. Now his only goal was to protect them, which would be hard since he was no longer in the right time period. Naruto stopped walked. It was a good thing he had decided not to reveal his status as a jinchuuriki. Having two Kyuubi jinchuuriki's in the same time period would be a dead giveaway to his situation.

Kyuubi had warned him against using any techniques above genin. That left him with taijutsu and water element. He would have to slow down his reaction time with his taijutsu, but that shouldn't be too difficult. It was a good thing he only knew the basics of water element. At least he would be able to work his full capability with it. This would give him an opportunity to practice it too. He had already master wind and fire by the time he became Hokage. Since then he had little time to train, the result being that his water jutsu was taking longer to master. He had been working on it for several months, but he could only do the basics.

As he continued walking, an idea came to Naruto. If a nineteen year old shinobi was still a genin, he needed to have the attitude to match that. No genin that old would be serious about life. Besides, as Hokage he had to act mature or people would doubt the idea to make a teenager Hokage. What chance would he have again that allowed him to act like a kid? Grinning, Naruto walked onto the training field before him. If Kakashi had been accurate about his old team, and Kakashi was always accurate, then he would get along well with Obito. Kakashi himself? Not so much.

oOoOo

Kakashi knew the moment the man strode onto the training field that he was going to be a nuisance. From his stupid grin to his obnoxiously loud greeting, it was no mystery that he was still a genin. How did he survive by himself for years? His behavior screamed 'kill me now.' This idiot better not hold him back.

"Kakashi!" Kakashi looked up to see Minato in front of him. That man looked frustrated. "I asked you to introduce yourself to your knew teammate."

Kakashi glared at the man. "Hatake Kakashi."

The man smiled wider. Didn't the idiot know when he was being glared at? "Naruto! Nice to meet you, Kakashi." Kakashi flinched. No honorific? Who did this guy think he was?

Minato must have sensed the death wishes stemming from Kakashi. "This morning I want to see your abilities, Naruto." Minato turned to Obito. "You're going to be Naruto's opponent."

Obito nodded. Kakashi grimaced under his mask. The two idiots training together? That was going to be a waste of his time.

oOoOo

Rin stared at the blonde haired, blue eyed man that walked onto the field. She figured it was irrational, but she had thought that since he looked so much like Minato, that he probably acted like him too. He was the complete opposite. The first thing Naruto had done was wave to them and shout out a loud 'hello.' It had been so far from what Rin was expected that she actually jumped, startled. Then he had addressed all of them by their first name, without any honorifics. Minato was the only person he used an honorific for.

Rin walked to the edge of the training grounds. With Obito's fire jutsu's it was best to give the two of them their space. Once she and Kakashi were behind the posts, Minato gave the signal for them to start. Rin hoped Obito wouldn't hurt Naruto.

"It'll be weird having a new addition to the team." Rin looked up at Minato, hoping he wouldn't be too drawn into the fight to not respond.

"It will be strange for a few weeks, but you'll get used to him. I will warn you that this will probably affect you the most." Minato glanced down at her before looking back at the fight. He must've seen her confusion, because he continued. "With only two teammates, your medic status has only been of assistance after battle. With a third teammate, you will be able to attend to those in need during a battle."

That was a good thing. Even while still in the academy, Rin had wanted to become a medic shinobi. With Naruto's arrival, it seemed to be happening.

oOoOo

Minato wasn't sure it was a good idea to out Obito against Naruto. He had originally intended for it to be Kakashi, but that had changed as soon as Naruto showed up. He didn't know what he was expecting from the boy (and yes, despite his age he was definitely still a boy) but it hadn't been this. It was no surprise that Naruto had remained a genin. Obito may be hyperactive, but Naruto was bordering obnoxious. Don't misunderstand, he liked the boy, his personality was just unexpected. After a few days, Minato knew he would get used to the boy's attitude. Until then Minato hoped none of his team killed the boy.

Obito was a good shinobi, but he struggled with control. Kakashi had been ideal because he knew how to go easy on a weaker opponent. If Naruto couldn't keep up with Obito he would get burned. As it was, Naruto was actually doing an okay job. He hadn't managed to land any hit on Obito, but he had also avoided being hit.

Obito made the signs for Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. In order to counter, Naruto made a hand seal that Minato knew was incorrect. A thin layer of water went up as a shield, but Obito's fire went through it. Minato could tell from Naruto's face as he dodged that the jutsu had been weaker than he'd thought. Naruto looked around, seeming to study the surrounding area. Naruto adjusted his position to a crouch. He didn't move until Obito started to make the signs for another fire jutsu. As soon as Obito started the signs, Naruto lunged forward. Obito was too distracted from focusing on the signs to react fast enough. Naruto punched Obito in the stomach. Obito stumbled backwards before charging in again. Another punch, this time to the head. Obito may have had the advantage in long range attacks, but Naruto had the advantage in close range.

"That's enough." Minato stepped forward as Naruto swung to land another hit on Obito. Naruto paused inches from his fist making contact. Minato was impressed with Naruto's reflexes. "Your taijutsu is above average, Naruto-kun, but your ninjutsu is needs a lot of work." It was a good thing Minato's affinity was for water.

Naruto grinned. "When can you train me to get better?" Naruto took a few steps toward him, his hand folded together like he was begging.

"Right now." He turned to face the rest of his team. "Kakashi, I want you to practice putting chakra into your ankles and knees. It helps increase your speed. I don't want you trying it when I'm not around though; it uses a lot of chakra." Kakashi's face remained blank, but he nodded. "Rin and Obito, I want you to work on chakra control. Obito, knowing how to make a large fire is important, but so is being able to control your chakra to the point of being able to make a small, but powerful fire. Your goal is to increasingly make smaller fires. Rin, in medical jutsu's lack of control can be deadly. Go to the river and get a large fish. Practice keeping the fish alive. Do it for five minute intervals. After the five minutes, release the fish, rest for thirty seconds and then start the process over again." Finally he turned back to Naruto. "Naruto, we're going to be working on the hand signs for water jutsu's."

Naruto stared at him, a dazed expression on his face. "What?" Minato asked.

Naruto snapped out of his daze. "Nothing, I just wasn't expecting you to focus on me first." Why wouldn't he have? Naruto didn't know how to make a proper water sign, if that wasn't fixed then their team could be in danger. Plus it only made sense that Minato would focus his attention on his new student first. Learn all of his capabilities.

Minato looked over at his other three students. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito were all practicing what he had told them too. Time to start with Naruto.

"I'm sure you noticed that the water shield you used against Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu was weak. The reason is that you performed the seals in the wrong order." Naruto slapped himself on the forehead.

"I can't believe I messed up the seals! I knew I should've paid more attention to sensei!" Minato was once again surprised by the boy's outburst. Naruto was calm one minute, then incredibly loud the next.

"It's okay that you messed up the seals as long as you learn them the right way now." Naruto nodded. "You switched ram and tiger. The correct seal is bird, monkey, hare, ram, dragon. By using tiger in place of ram, the jutsu lost its strength. Remember that the tiger seal is more common in fire jutsu's than in water jutsu's."

"So the seal is bird," Naruto made the bird seal, "monkey," he made the monkey seal, "hare," he made the hare seal, "ram," he made the ram seal, "and dragon." He made the dragon seal.

"Correct. Run though the seal a few more times before putting any chakra into it." Minato was once again surprised and impressed by the boy. Naruto's loud behavior and only average skill lead him to believe the boy was a slacker, but Naruto clearly had a desire to learn. Naruto stood, doing the seals repetitively, mouthing the names of the seals as he did them. After Naruto went through the seals ten times, Minato allowed him to use chakra. "But remember, this is your first time doing this with the correct seal. It will take practice for you to master it."

Naruto nodded, but Minato suspected he didn't hear his warning. Naruto focused on his hands as he made the seal. Bird, monkey, hare, ram, dragon. A wall of water rose up in front of Naruto. It looked to be about a foot thick. The height and width of the water shield was strong enough to withstand a fire attack. Minato stared at Naruto, mouth agape. "This was your first time. How did you do that?" He stuttered.

Naruto just grinned like an idiot. "I'm a fast learner."

Minato didn't know what he had expected from the boy, but he did know that he was sure they were all wrong. He also suspected this wasn't going to be the only time Naruto left him speechless.

oOoOo

If you asked Obito what his first thoughts of Naruto were, he would lie. Not because he had thought the man was an idiot. Nor that he seemed _too _happy. It would be because he knew the loudness and the big grin were fakes. Naruto might not be a troubled person or even a liar, but there was no doubt in Obito's mind that he was wearing a mask. He knew because it was the same mask he put on every morning. It came as no surprise to Obito that no one else noticed. They never did.

**A/N: Sorry this is shorter than the other, but I didn't want to extend it beyond their initial meetings.**

**I had someone complain in a review that all Naruto ever seems to know is Kage Bunshin, Rasengan, and Sage Mode. I would like to say that the reason Kyuubi told Naruto not to use those is because he shouldn't know any of those techniques. Kage Bunshin was a Konoha technique that few knew, Rasengan was created by Minato and he only taught it to Jiraiya, and Sage Mode was unique to Jiraiya at the time. I personally don't think this is all Naruto is capable of, this is merely what would immediately give him away. Thank you for reading and please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the papers before him. Like every day, he had to sign off and assign missions. He sat hunched over in his chair, deciding which pile to tackle first: completed missions or unassigned mission. Signing off on completed missions would be the easier task. He would scan the file before putting his signature at the bottom and placing it alphabetically in the proper drawers. Assigning missions was harder because he had to evaluate which of his many teams would be best suited for the missions. The problems got worse when the best team was already on a mission or there were multiple places a team would fit. Going with the philosophy to do the hard task first, Sarutobi started on the list of unassigned missions.

The D-ranks went to the new genin, while the C-ranks when to genin with more experience. B-ranks and A-ranks were assigned to chuunin and jounin. It seemed like everything would fit together fine, until he realized there were more C-rank missions than available genin teams. He went through the list of missions again, this time marking the more important missions. Some of the simple ones would have to wait. After spending another thirty minutes pouring over the papers, Sarutobi still had one emergency mission that was left unassigned. It was an escort mission from Konoha to one of the Land of Fire's border villages. The client wasn't nobility, but he was the leader of a small village. He had heard enough about rouge shinobi to refuse to enter the forest without an escort.

Going over the list of available genin for a third time that day. The only team that wasn't away on a mission or about to be was Team Minato. He had told Minato the previous day that he would allow his team a break from assignments out of the village so his team could adjust to a fourth person and train for the chuunin exams. It looked like he would have to break that promise. Sarutobi sincerely hoped this wouldn't affect Team Minato's performance in the chuunin exams.

oOoOo

Where was it? Obito crawled across the floor to look under his bed for the second time. His goggles where missing. Obito sat on his knees and surveyed his room again. Most people would be surprised to know that Obito was actually a very neat person. He put things away after he had used them, he did his laundry, and he made sure everything was in the correct place before leaving. The only signs of his desperate search through his sleeping quarters were an unmade bed and a few articles of clothing lying next to a hamper.

It was seven-thirty in the morning; he was supposed to meet up with his team at eight. Upon reaching the conclusion that his goggles had been taken, Obito left the house through his window. He knew who had taken them. Uchiha Yakumi.

Yakumi had been bullying Obito since he was five. At first Yakumi had hit Obito, but once Obito started the academy and learned to fight back, Yakumi stopped the physical beatings. Now he simply took Obito's weapons or goggles. Obito had thought about getting himself a backup of all of his equipment, but it cost too much money. He didn't make that much from missions and his parents wouldn't pay for them. Obito ran down the block, several shopkeepers waving to him as he passed. He made sure he had his smile plastered on. They probably assumed he was running late for something. Which he almost was.

Obito stopped in by the entrance into the Uchiha compound. Looking behind him to see if anyone was watching, Obito slipped down the street along the wall. The spot he was looking for was about a half mile down the road. He knelt on the ground and probed the wall for the loose bricks. He had discovered long ago where Yakumi hid his things. Obito had decided not to gloat about finding the spot, which turned out to be a smart move. Yakumi still believed Obito had no idea where his things were hidden. It was another good thing that even an Uchiha without a sharingan could use genjutsu. Yakumi never even noticed that Obito had removed the items.

Obito pulled out the loose brick. Deep inside the wall were his goggles. Reaching inside, Obito removed his goggles. There was a new scratch on them from being shoved into the wall. Putting the brick back in place, Obito stood up and started to run again. _Now_ he was late. Dodging civilian as he hurried to the training fields, Obtio saw a group of kids huddled around a tree. He slowed down to get a better look. A group of five to six year olds were trying to coax a cat out of a tree. The cat was stubbornly refusing, hissing every time one of the kids tried to reach up and grab it. It only took Obito a moment to make a decision. _I was going to be late anyway._

oOoOo

"Sorry I'm late. There was a group of kids trying to get a cat out of a tree and I stopped to help." Obito rambled, trying to defend his late arrival. Minato sighed. When was Obito going to grow up?

"Did you get the cat out?" Naruto piped up. Minato stared at him. Did he actually believe Obito? Minato watched Obito's face and saw surprise there. He must've known his story was unbelievable too. Though Minato knew he should count his blessings, Obito was only forty minutes late today.

"Uhh…yeah. The kids were really happy." Obito rubbed the back of his neck. He turned to Minato. "So what are we training on today?"

"Today's training is canceled. The Sandaime has assigned our team a mission." Minato started. "It's a…"

"Yes! Finally a mission. I hope its super cool!" Naruto was nearly jumping with excitement. Obito was staring at Naruto strangely, like he thought Naruto was some kind of enigma.

Minato continued explaining. "It's a C-rank mission. Our client is one of the Land of Fire's border village leaders. We need to escort him to his village. The journey is a two day journey, so we should be back in Konoha in four to five days. The village leader isn't a target, so we shouldn't encounter any enemy shinobi. I want you to remain cautious, though. This is your first mission as a new team and things aren't always what they appear to be." Minato thought he heard Naruto snort. He looked over at the boy. Naruto just grinned at him. "When are we leaving?"

"I'm going to the Hokage's Manor to meet the client. You four can go home and get your things. I'm sorry the mission is last minute, but it appears we were the only team that was available." Rin nodded and started off towards her house, Kakashi walking behind her. Obito left a few seconds after them, mumbling something about 'rushing here for nothing.'

All that was left was Naruto. "I don't really have anything to grab. All of my equipment is with me." Minato detected a hint of loneliness in the boy's voice. It must be hard for him, not even having someone that he needed to let know he was leaving. "You can come with me to the Hokage's Manor." Naruto grinned a little wider. "Please let me do the talking." Naruto agreed, but Minato suspected he had no intention of remaining quiet.

oOoOo

A C-rank mission wasn't really what Naruto had wanted, but it seemed like they were the only team available. Minato was walking next to him, whistling. He stopped and asked, "What do you think of Konoha?"

It was actually a hard question. Naruto knew more about what was going on than anyone seemed to think. He needed an answer that would be appropriate for someone who had only been here a few days. "The places that I've been to here are nice. Even though Konoha is in war shopkeepers don't take that as an excuse to inflate prices." Naruto looked at the shops lining the street. Merchants were at their stands, smiling and waving to anyone who passed by. "It's the people here that amaze me. They're so friendly. Nowhere else that I've ever been has had merchants wave to a passerby, not to get their business but just to say hello. The just seems to be a different spirit here. Do you think that's what the shinobi meant by the Will of Fire?"

Minato didn't answer immediately, instead waving towards several villagers. "I think you need to figure that out for yourself." It was such an elusive answer. If Naruto didn't already know the answer, he would have said so. Letting Minato's comment slide, Naruto looked up at the Hokage Mountain. There were only three faces on it now, not the five he was used to. Back home they had still been working on adding his face. He had only been Hokage for seven months. He wondered briefly if time was moving normally back home or if he would just go back to the time he left at when he returned. That was if he found a way back.

"Do you want to be Hokage?" Minato started beside him. The question seemed to come out of nowhere.

Minato glanced at Naruto from the corner of his eye for a minute before nodding. "Yes, ever since I was little. I've worked hard and tried to make myself the best candidate for the job."

"Did anyone ever doubt you could do it? Did they make fun of you?" Naruto didn't know why he was asking. A desire to know more about the man who was his father has suddenly surfaced. Up until that point, Naruto had been viewing Minato as the future Yondaime. He had recognized that the Yondaime was his father, but outside of one other time, he had never thought of _this_ man as his father.

Minato took the first step that lead up the mountain. Turning around, he faced Naruto. "There was this one kunoichi in the academy who doubted that I could become Hokage. She thought I looked flaky. She made fun of me and teased me about my dream. At some point, her opinion was all that mattered to me. I just wanted her to acknowledge that I could accomplish my dream." Minato blinked, surprised that he had told a near stranger something so personal.

Naruto knew Minato was talking about Uzumaki Kushina, his mother. "And have you changed her mind?"

Minato's lips twitched upward, a lazy smile spreading across his features. "I think so." Minato continued walking up the steps. Naruto allowed him to lead the way into the Hokage's Manor. The receptionist had them wait several minutes before sending them into the Sandaime's office.

The Sandaime was standing, clearing his desk off. This was the first time Naruto had seen the Sandaime of this time stand. His back was straighter, making him taller than he had been in the future. "Ah, Minato-san and Naruto-san, I do believe you are here about the mission?" Minato nodded. "I apologize for breaking my promise. I didn't think there would be so many missions at once." Shuffling through the papers, the Sandime pulled out the mission file. "Here it is. The clients name is Sato Keiji. He is the leader of a small border village. He heard about several rouge shinobi and didn't want to travel through the woods without an escort. He should be joining us shortly."

"As soon as Kakashi, Rin, and Obito join us we will be ready to leave, Sandaime-sama." Minato spoke. Naruto thought it strange that Minato had spoken with so much respect in his voice. He had expected the Sandaime and Minato to be closer than that.

"That could be a long wait, Minato-san. Obito-kun had a habit of running late." The Sandaime was smiling. Naruto knew that smile. It was the same one the Sandaime always gave the chuunin's who has spent many afternoons chasing him down. Naruto felt a small comfort, knowing that the Sandaime treated Obito in a similar way to how he had treated him. At least the Sandaime's treatment had nothing to do with the fox.

"If he isn't here when Kakashi and Rin show up, I'll go look for him." Naruto offered. The Sandaime and Minato both looked like they had forgotten he was there.

A knock on the door stopped the Sandaime's reply.

At the Sandaime's request, Minato opened the door. A middle age man stood in the doorway. The man was clean shaven and had black hair with gray specks in it. He was short, but his confidant stance made up for his height. Naruto figured this was the village leader. "Sato Keiji." The man introduced himself as he walked passed Minato and into the Sandaime's office. Naruto struggled to see a man like this fearing the woods. "Is everything in order for my trip?"

"We are waiting on the rest of the team to be here." The Sandaime said. Keiji grunted in response.

Not a minute later, Obito burst through the doors without knocking. "Wait, I'm here _first_. I could've taken more time to pack." Obito complained. The Sandaime and Minato looked shocked at Obito's early arrival. Naruto studied Obito's expression. His attitude didn't match his body language. Obito had complained about being first, but Naruto had seen his body relax, like he had thought he was going to be late and was relieved when he was not.

Kakashi and Rin arrived at the same time. Naruto thought it strange that the two were usually together. He thought Kakashi was a loner without any friends, but it looked like he didn't mind Rin's company.

With a slight bow to the Hokage, Minato led his team and client out of the building and towards Konoha's gate. He was explaining the path they were going to take to the village leader. Keiji remained confident in his step. Why would someone who wasn't afraid ask for a shinobi escort? Either Keiji was a great actor and was terrified in ide or this mission was going to be a lot like Naruto's first C-rank.

**A/N: I was going to start with the chuunin exams, but I felt that the team needed more time together. Writing the characters has become easier, with the exception of Rin. I just don't know what to do with her. Thank you for reading and please review. I was shocked with how many reviews I've gotten for the past two chapters. Thank you to those who have already reviewed.**


	7. Chapter 7

They weren't even a mile into the journey when Naruto first noticed them; a squad shinobi were trailing them. He had sensed two at first, but then a third appeared. The third disappeared within seconds. Whoever they were, they were keeping their distance. The chakra signatures were strong and deadly, giving Naruto the notion that this was an assassination squad. Naruto looked at the shinobi in front of him. Minato was leading the way, followed by Kakashi; Keiji was behind Kakashi and Obito behind Keiji. Naruto was in the rear.

Did any of them notice the enemy squad? His own tracking abilities were enhanced by the Kyuubi, giving his tracking a wider range than the average shinobi, though it wasn't on par with those with a kekkei genkei. Naruto studied Minato, the one most likely to have superior tracking skills. His body was as relaxed as was possible considering they were on a mission. The few moments were Minato turned to look behind him his face had looked serious, but there were no signs of worry. If he sensed anything, he certainly hid it well.

If Minato didn't know, that left Naruto with a dilemma. What should he do about it? He had been able to pull off being a genin so far, but if he reported the squad to Minato that would be over. But wasn't the safety of a client and the completion of a mission more important than his own secrets? The squad was still several miles away. Minato would definitely notice them before they become dangerous.

_What if they're merely making sure you stay on track? What if there is a trap ahead? _Naruto growled quietly. This whole 'being from the future' thing was starting to get difficult. Naruto sensed an abrupt stop in front of him. Pushing his chakra into his right foot, Naruto used the extra force to spin around his roadblock. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto saw Obito seemingly frozen. Up ahead their teammates continued on, oblivious to Obito's sudden halt. Naruto looked back at Obito. He seemed to be focusing on something, his features serious for once.

"Wait!" Obito's loud voice was the last thing Naruto expected to hear. Obito's serious expression was gone, his normal happy-go-lucky expression in place. "If we continue on this path something bad will happen." Naruto looked at Obito curiously. Had he really sensed the assassins?

"Why do you think that, Obito?" Rin looked doubtful.

Obito was quiet for a second, his expression mock seriousness. "I saw it in a dream last night." Kakashi scoffed. "I really did, if we keep going this way a huge animal is going to attack us."

Naruto was speechless. That was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"Obito, you may have had a bad dream last night, but it has nothing to do with this mission. And I believe that if I huge animal were to attack we are more than capable of handling it." Minato sounded exasperated. Maybe Obito made claims like this regularly.

"We're losing time listening to this brat." Keiji grumbled. Minato nodded. Motioning for the rest to follow him, the group was moving once again.

Obito didn't seem to be bothered by his team's assessment of his warning, so it must be a regular thing, like his lateness. But wasn't there a reason to his lateness? From Obito's reaction after arriving first at the Hokage's Manor Naruto had started to become suspicious of his lateness. There seemed to be a reason, a reason Obito wanted to keep hidden. Was this the same? Had Obito actually been aware of the squad and been trying to divert their path away from a possible trap? Naruto had fought him only a few days ago and he was sure Obito had been going full strength. Observation skills were usually best among those who had themselves been overlooked. And usually that person kept his observation skill to himself. Naruto knew because he himself was like that. Maybe Obito was too.

The shinobi were still on the outskirts of Naruto's senses, but they didn't make any attempt to close in. The further Team Minato went without trouble, the more convinced Naruto became that a trap lay ahead. He had decided against alerting the others after Obito's interesting statements. Right now it didn't appear that they were in any danger, and Naruto was sure he could defend them if he had need to. No need to give everything away now.

It was shortly before dark that Minato stopped them and gave the order to set up camp. As Obito and Rin set up the tents and Kakashi guarded Keiji, Minato and Naruto headed into the woods to gather firewood.

They walked in silence for several minutes. Naruto snuck glances over at Minato every few seconds. He had no idea how to start a conversation with his father. It was Minato who broke the silence. "You've been awful quiet since we left. I was expecting you to be more excited about getting a C-rank mission."

"I am happy." Naruto started. How could he explain that he had been contemplating whether or not to tell Minato about their followers? "I don't know. I think it's because I'm leaving the village for the first time as a Konoha shinobi." That seemed like a good excuse.

**Not really.**

_I didn't ask for your opinion, Kyuubi._

**If I waited for you to ask, I would never be able to tell.**

Naruto growled at Kyuubi. Stupid fox.

Minato nodded, seeming to understand his reasoning behind being quiet. "Naruto, even though you're on my team, I know nothing about you. What are your favorite and least favorite things? What are your hobbies and what is your dream? It's important that teammates know each other well."

Should he answer the same way he had when Kakashi asked him (and had Kakashi stolen that line of questioning from Minato? If so then it's no wonder he's called the Copy Shinobi) or should he come up with new answers. He couldn't claim to want to be Hokage after only spending a few days in Konoha, so he might as well come up with a new answer. At least to some of the questions. "My favorite thing world is ramen!" He spoke enthusiastically. "My least favorite thing is when my old sensei used to keep me waiting." Minato chuckled, probably thinking of Obito. "I only have one hobby and its training! I love learning new jutsu's." Somewhere in his reply he had dropped his pile of wood in order to use his hands to show his enthusiasm.

"And your dreams for the future?" Minato knelt down and started picking up the fallen wood. Naruto bent down to help.

What were his dreams for the future? In the past-or future-his dream had always been to be Hokage. He was Hokage now, so what was his new dream? Did he even have one? "I don't know." The answer was more honest than he had been intending.

Minato seemed to contemplate his answer. "It's dangerous to go through life without a dream. If we don't have a purpose of goal we could end up losing ourselves along our path."

Naruto thought of Sasuke. "Sometimes having a dream can be dangerous too." Minato looked surprised at his reply. Shrugging it off, Naruto stood and started back toward the camp. "We need to get the wood back to camp soon. Dinner's waiting on us." Naruto hurried off before Minato could stop him. Why had he said that? Why was he so comfortable around Minato that he easily let things slip out? Sure Minato was his father, but he didn't actually know the guy.

oOoOo

Minato stared at Naruto's retreating form. What had he meant when he said that dreams could be dangerous? It seemed so out of character for Naruto to be serious like he had been a second ago. Only a few seconds prior to that statement he had been as happy and loud as ever. Now he was walking away solemnly.

Minato wanted to catch up to Naruto and ask him straight out what he meant. It wasn't out of curiosity; he only wanted to know what Naruto had been through. He wanted to know more about Naruto himself. It was a strange desire, being so drawn to a stranger, but there was just something familiar about Naruto. Something that made Minato care about the boy.

Naruto and Rin had already started the fire when Minato entered the camp. Kakashi had taken over Rin's spot and now he and Obito were wrestling with the tent poles. If it wasn't for the coming rain, Minato would've told them to forget it. Keiji was sitting a little way behind the fire. Minato walked around the pit and sat next to him. Not wanted the others to hear, Minato whispered, "I don't know why you hired us, but I know this is more than just a normal C-rank mission. Something else is going on here."

Keiji didn't even flinch at his accusations. "I hired your team to escort me through the woods. Once we reach my village your mission will be complete. That's all a shinobi needs to know to fulfill his mission." Keiji stood and walked over to the tree line. Leaning against the tree, Keiji closed his eyes. "Tell me when dinner is ready."

oOoOo

The first thing Naruto noticed the following morning was the absence of the trailing shinobi. Had they given up, increased their distance, or already sprung their trap? Their absence only served to add more discomfort to Naruto. At least the previous day he had known where they were, now he was as in the dark as everyone else appeared to be.

"What do you think of this mission?" Obito slowed down a bit so he was next to Naruto. He still looked too happy, but Naruto thought he could see some cracks in Obito's mask. The smile just didn't seem right.

"I think he's lying to us." Obito seemed to share the same thoughts. Nodding his head, Obito focused ahead of him. "This mission doesn't make much sense if he's not. Why would a fit village leader be too afraid to travel home?"

"Maybe he's really a smuggler and he's using us to get illegal items into the village." Naruto threw out the suggestion.

"Or he could be on a super-secret mission and he can't even tell his backup the truth." Naruto was impressed that Obito could come up with an idea more ridiculous than his own.

"Or he's using a henge and isn't really the village leader at all." Naruto tried to top Obito's thought.

"Or he's being threatened and low ranking shinobi are the best a poor village's leader could afford." Obito was good at this game. The idea seemed to stick out to Naruto. It was possible, right? More than possible. That had been the circumstances surrounding Naruto's first C-rank mission. The journey to the Land of Waves had started as a simple escort mission and had escalated to protecting a village from a S-classified shinobi, Zabuza.

Naruto studied Keiji's profile. He had a confident air around him. Definitely not the type of man who scared easily. What kind of threat would have to be made to get Keiji to pay for protection, even if only a misfit team of one jonin, one chuunin, and three genin. Keiji must've been truly desperate to hire them. And why would anyone threaten him? What was this man involved in that caused someone to order an assassin team after him?

Keiji looked over his shoulder, his eyes locking with Naruto's. His face was blank, but his eyes were not. His eyes showed his determination to fight whatever was against them. It was strange how much this man reminded him of Tazuna. In the beginning, Tazuna had seemed like a grouchy old man, but after the Demon Brothers attacked and Tazuna told them the truth, the old man had become friendlier.

As similar as the missions seemed, at least this time the Kyuubi wouldn't come out.

**What? Are you ashamed of me or something? **

_Get over yourself, Kyuubi._

**A/N: There was supposed to be more action in this chapter, but I wanted to take another chapter to explore the characters a bit sense everything's still getting started. I will probably start updating only once a week. For the first couple of chapter I was really into the story, which lead to me writing the next chapter faster. I still am enjoying writing this, I just am now watching other TV shows and reading books instead of only focusing on Naruto. I would like to say thank you to everyone who's reviewed for this story. I can't believe how well it is doing.**

**This story is changing so much from my original idea. The main focus was supposed to be Naruto and Minato, but after writing one scene from Obito's point of view the focus changed. I loved Obito so much I decided to give him a bigger part of the story. Now I'm thinking of changing the B character from Minato to Obito. The story is going to focus more on Obito and Naruto now.**

**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	8. Chapter 8

If there was one thing Obito hated, besides his clan's theology, it was knowingly walking into danger. He found no trace of enemy shinobi, but there was something off about their journey so far. The first strange thing was that they had been hired. Why would a strong village leader, who should have his own guard, hire a shinobi team? The second strange thing was that everything seemed so easy. In Obito's experience with missions nothing had ever been easy. There was always a reason for them to be hired and it was usually because someone was after their client. Obito had become so unsettled by how smooth everything was going that he had proposed changing courses, doing something unexpected. Right now they were on the same path countless travelers took, it wouldn't be too hard to plant at trap down the road.

Of course no one considered his idea. For a second he had thought to give them his reasoning, but it's not like they'd believe him anyway. He had always been looked at as the weakest on the team.

Behind him Naruto closed the distance between them. "Minato-san told me that it was important to know your teammates. Now seems as good a time as any." Naruto was still behind him, but angled now so that if Obito turned his head to the right he could see him.

"My name's Uchiha Obito. Hmm, I like helping people. If I see someone who needs help I'll stop no matter the cost to me." Obito paused. What was safe to tell Naruto? "My rival is Kakashi, but he won't acknowledge my strength. He's always insulting me and telling me that as an Uchiha I should be a great shinobi, but I'm not."

"You train a lot in secret, don't you?" Obito stopped and whipped around to face Naruto. How did he know that? Naruto didn't give him time to respond. "My name's Naruto. I will do anything to protect the people I care about. I know I look silly, being a genin at nineteen, so I hope to pass the chuunin exams when we take them."

Obito looked over his shoulder and saw that the rest of their team was a good distance away. Turning around, he ran full speed to try to catch up to them. Naruto was right behind him the entire way. At least this guy wouldn't slow them down. When he reached his team, they were stopped. "What held you back?" Rin looked worried.

"I thought I sensed something, but it turned out to just be an animal." Obito answered. He really was good at making things up on the spot.

"You mean like the animal that's going to attack us if we keep going this way?" Kakashi sniped. He was probably smirking underneath that mask.

Obito clenched his fists. "Isn't the safety of the client first? If so, why not go a different way and prevent a possible attack?"

Kakashi looked about ready to strike. "Because this is the best course and there is no danger. I could take on any animal, not to mention we have Minato-sensei with us."

Obito took a step toward Kakashi. He couldn't help wanted to hit the guy. Minato's voice stopped his attack. "Stop fighting, you two. Kakashi, Obito could've had a dream like that. And Obito, even if you had a dream that doesn't mean it will happen. I've been searching the area and I haven't sensed one enemy. And Kakashi's right, if it is an animal, there's no reason we can't handle it." Minato was standing in between Kakashi and Obito now. Obito had no choice but to listen to his sensei. Minato was the expert, so surely he knew what he was doing.

"I can't believe my life is in the hands of a bunch of idiot kids." Keiji shook his head. It probably wasn't smart to start a fight in front of your client, Obito thought. He'd remember that for next time.

Minato motioned for them to begin walking again. "I want to cover several more miles before we rest for the night."

It wasn't long after they started up again that Naruto was talking to Obito again. "What's his problem?"

He probably meant Kakashi. "He's a stuck up genius who thinks he's better than everyone else."

Naruto snorted. "I know the type." He was quiet for a moment. He looked thoughtful, like he was remembering something. "I knew a guy who was a genius. He did nothing but look down on me and call me a dead last. At first I assumed he thought he was better than everyone else, then I found out he was considered a lesser member of his family, despite his skills."

"So you're saying he had a reason behind his attitude?" It was a strange thought, that there was a reason Kakashi was so cold. From what he knew, everyone had always praised Kakashi as being a genius. "Maybe some people have a reason, but I think others are just stuck up jerks."

"Do you have the right to decide that?" Naruto didn't sound like he was accusing him, just asking a question. "How long have you known Kakashi?"

"Since we were put on the same genin team over a year ago." That was plenty of time to get to know someone. "Plus, I had heard about him before then. The chuunin teachers were always going on about this genius shinobi who had graduated from the academy at age five and was a chuunin a age six."

Naruto kicked at a rock in his path. "And what do you know of Kakashi's personal life? His friends? His family?" He hadn't thought of that. Obito had never bothered to ask about Kakashi's home life, though it wasn't likely Kakashi would tell him. "I'm not saying that you're wrong about Kakashi, only that in my own experience there have been personal issues that credited to a genius' superior attitude."

"If he does have reasons, and I'm not convinced that he does, then he still isn't acting right. Just because you've gone through something difficult doesn't mean that you're better than everyone else."

"I agree that it isn't right, but at least they aren't lying to themselves and everyone else about who they are. I believe that pretending something never happened is worse than thinking you've gone through more than others have." Naruto looked at the group in front of them. "Now probably isn't the best time for talking. We need to focus on keeping Keiji-san safe." Naruto looked down at Obito and smirked. "You never know when a wild animal will pop out."

"You're making fun of me now, but just wait until later! Don't come crying to me when you're bleeding to death because of a porcupine!" Obito shouted.

Naruto bent over, shaking and fighting the urge to laugh. Losing that fight, Naruto laughed for a good minute before he spoke again. At this point the team had stopped and was staring at Naruto and Obito. "Porcupine? What's the worst a porcupine could do? Stick me with a hundred needles? Ten senbons could do more damage than that would, and I've survived with more senbons in me than that."

In front of them Minato sighed. "It doesn't look like we're going to get much further tonight." He set his backpack on the ground. "We'll set up camp here." Taking their sensei's cue, the rest of Team Minato went to work setting up the camp. Without the possibility of rain, there was no point in setting up the tents. They were used to sleeping outside.

Minato sent Kakashi and Obito out into the woods to find some wood for the fire. Kakashi took the lead, like Obito knew he would. Staring at Kakashi's back, Obito wondered if maybe Naruto was right. What if Kakashi had gone through something traumatic and as a result had become the arrogant person Obito knew? He had often blamed others for not seeing what was right before their eyes. Blaming them for never asking questions when things didn't quiet add up. Was he no different? Had he taken one look at Kakashi and decided that what he saw was all there was to him?

What had even caused that conversation with Naruto? They had been talking a little beforehand, but it was hardly serious. It was a strange topic to be discussing with someone you barely knew. Should he believe the words of someone he had only met several days ago? Not wanting to appear gullible for believing the words of a stranger, but also not wanting to be a hypocrite, Obito settled on a starting point. Being bold and outright asking. "You never talk about your home life. What's it like? Are your parent's shinobi too?"

Kakashi froze. It was the most of a reaction that Obito had ever gotten out of him. "My personal life has nothing to do with this mission; therefore, it is not necessary for me to answer." Kakashi's voice was usually condescending, but right now it was cold. Kakashi sounded bitter. Not bothering to face Obito, Kakashi turned and headed back to the camp. "We have enough wood for dinner."

Maybe Naruto was right. Why else would Kakashi react in such a way to his question? Especially since Kakashi rarely reacted to anything. Following his teammate back toward the camp, Obito once again stared at Kakashi's backside. What could have happened to cause Kakashi to act this way?

oOoOo

Kakashi didn't wait for the others to finish eating before he went to bed. Pulling the blanket up, he rolled onto his side. He had been in a bad mood since Obito asked him about his parent's. A shinobi didn't let his emotions get in his way, which meant keeping your home life separate from your missions. Not like he had a home life anyway. Why did Obito have to bring up personal things on a mission? All emotions did was screw up judgment.

Kakashi rolled over again. What right did Obito have asking him about his parent's? Obito had never cared about his home life before, why start now? Not that he wanted Obito to care. He wouldn't understand anyway. People like Obito, who were born from a prestigious clan and had one of the most powerful kekkei genkei's, couldn't possibly understand what it felt like. Obito had never had to suffer like Kakashi had. Never had to bear the shame of his family's name like Kakashi had. And he definitely never had to see the lifeless body of a loved one like Kakashi had.

Kakashi remain still when he felt the others approaching. He didn't want Minato to know he was awake. The man was certain to have noticed Kakashi's behavior and ask what was wrong. Kakashi heard Rin volunteer to take the first guard. Obito volunteered for the second. Obito would wake him up for the third shift. On their third or fourth mission the three of them had started taking all of the shifts. They had wanted to prove to Minato that they were becoming more reliable as shinobi. Since then Minato had only taken a handful of watch guard shifts.

It was well into Rin's shift before Kakashi fell asleep. He dreamed that he was in pitch darkness. Walking around, he realized he was in a small room. Fighting the fear that threatened to immobilize him, Kakashi kept feeling along the wall, searching for a way out. His hand touched something metal. A door hinge. Feeling around the area, he found a doorknob. He twisted it and welcomed the bright light that filtered into the dark room. Stepping into the new, light room, Kakashi looked around. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the new brightness. When he could see properly, his stomach clenched. The darkness was better than this. In the center of the room was a young Kakashi, about five years old. He was looking down at his feet where a still body rested.

Adrenaline rushed through Kakashi's body as he sat up. Panting, he looked over at the sleeping figures of his teammates. Rin was lying down, meaning it was currently Obito's turn as guard. Stupid Obito. Kakashi's nightmare was his fault. If he hadn't brought up Kakashi's parents, his father would've stayed at the back of his mind.

A yelp caught Kakashi's attention. Shooting to his feet, Kakashi ran toward the source of the sound: Obito. Minato and Naruto were behind him. Rin would guard Keiji. Minato sped past Kakashi, using his speed to make it to Obito first. The first thing Kakashi noticed when he saw Obito was the lack of an attacker; the second was the blood dripping from Obito's left arm. Obito had a kunai drawn in his hands, but his left grip was awkward, probably a result of the cut.

"What happened, Obito?" Minato knelt in front of him. Gently taking Obito's arm, he examined the wound. "This looks to be deep. Rin should take a look at it as soon as possible."

"I promise I was paying attention. Whoever he was came out of nowhere. I think he was masking his chakra trail." Obito sounded desperate for Minato to believe him.

Minato smiled encouragingly up at Obito. "He most likely was. I didn't sense anyone either." Minato guided Obito, who was holding his arm trying to prevent himself from losing more blood, back to the camp.

Rin waited until they were near before rushing to Obito. Ordering him to sit down, she started on his arm. She was quiet as she studied his arm, all the while applying pressure to the wound. Using her other hand to put healing chakra into the injury, Rin slowly removed the hand pressing down on Obito's arm. When the blood flow stopped, Rin reached for her pack. Fumbling around in the dark, she finally grabbed what she was looking for. Unrolling a strip of gauze, Rin wrapped it around Obito's arm. "I did all I could, but one of your nerves were hit. I can't heal the nerve myself, so I left some of the wound open so the injury will heal together. If we were in a village with a hospital, more could've been done. I'm sorry, Obito." Rin's eyes were watery. Kakashi knew she hated that Obito was hurt. "It'll probably take several weeks to heal, and I don't know what lasting damage the nerve will have." The tears in Rin's eyes spilled down her cheeks.

"A shinobi doesn't cry." Kakashi chastened her.

Rin wiped at her eyes. "I know. If I knew more medical jutsu's I could've healed your arm better." Rin choked back a sob when she spoke to Obito.

"It's not your fault. Shinobi get hurt or even killed every day. There is a risk to everything we do and most teams don't have a medic shinobi to give them better chances of survival. You did your best and that's better than most." Kakashi was surprised at the wisdom in Obito's words. For a second, Kakashi saw his teammate as more than an annoying failure. He had always thought Obito to be stupid and ignorant, but there seemed to be more to him than Kakashi had considered before. "Besides, my arm's definitely going to heal. I can't become the greatest shinobi ever if I can't use my arm properly." Obito grinned his obnoxious smile. Kakashi wanted to hit him for looking so stupid.

oOoOo

Naruto had noticed Minato slip off while Rin was looking at Obito's arm. He was probably scouting the area to make sure the enemy was truly gone. Deciding to scout as well, Naruto left the oblivious group behind before Rin started on Obit's arm. As he jumped from tree to tree, Naruto thought back on what happened. He had sensed the chakra, but it had seemed to be the same distance as it had been the entire time. No one else had sensed the shinobi, even when he had attacked Obito.

**Our senses are probably heightened to the point that we could sense him even when he was masking his chakra.**

Which meant that he had been closer than Naruto thought. The weak signal was because of the shinobi's masking, not distance. _How could I make such a mistake?_

**He felt miles away. At least we were aware of his presence. Now we know what to expect and we can be prepared for next time.**

_Why is there a next time? He had all of us off guard, so why didn't he finish the job. He could've killed Obito and then attacked us while we were asleep. _

Kyuubi was silent.

Not finding anything, Naruto went back to the camp. Rin was done with Obito's arm and sitting near Kakashi, who was probably keeping guard until Minato's return. Obito sat alone by the extinguished fire. Naruto approached him and sat on the ground beside him. "How's the arm."

Obito didn't answer for some time. "The shinobi hit a nerve, so the damage is kinda bad. Rin did what she could, but it'll take a little bit to recover." Naruto would've offered some kind of comforting word, but it seemed like Obito was struggling to say more. The silence extended from second to minutes. Obito sighed. "There's probably going to be lasting damage."

Naruto froze, not expecting the news.

**Your lives really do seem parallel.**

_Shut up, Kyuubi._ He refused to think of _that._

"Is there a chance there won't be lasting damage?" Naruto forced himself back to the situation at hand. Obito shrugged then nodded slowly. "Then don't give up hope. Doctors say stuff like that all the time. I think it's just to scare you into listening to them and resting. Don't worry about it." He had always prided himself on keeping his promises and he was determined to keep this one as well. Tsunade had told Lee to give up on being a shinobi and he proved her wrong. Obito's chances were much higher than Lee's had been so Naruto was worried about his recovery. In fact, it would probably only take a few weeks, unlike…no, he wasn't thinking of that. He was over it.

Obito was still discouraged. "Even if my arm does heal fine, it still won't be healed within a week." Naruto was going to ask why Obito had a time limit of a week when Obito spoke again. He must've seen Naruto's confusion. "The chuunin exams are taking place as soon as we return. With this injury I won't be able to participate."

How could he forget? "You'll still be able to participate. Remember, you have two teammates who are there to help you." He vowed to himself there that he would make sure Obito made it through the forest. Depending on how many passed they would have to battle in the semifinals. Hopefully most failed and there wouldn't be a need for the semifinals. The finals would take place a month after the forest, which would give Obito more time to heal.

When Minato returned to the camp, he appeared frustrated. Naruto was surprised when Minato approached him first. "There didn't seem to be anything suspicious. Whoever attacked Obito seems to be gone, but I'm still anxious. I didn't feel him at all and he was two hundred feet away. He could easily still be around here, just waiting to attack again."

Naruto agreed. He no longer sensed any of the three assassins, but with what they just pulled of, that didn't reassure him. "How's Obito's arm?" Naruto didn't want to be the one to tell Minato, but at least it would save the kids the trouble.

Inhaling and exhaling once before answering, Naruto looked Minato in the eyes. "One of his nerves was cut. Rin did what she could, but the healing process can still be several weeks long. There's a chance there could be lasting damage, but I doubt it. Obito doesn't seem the type to allow anything to hold him back."

Minato chuckled. "No he isn't." Minato faced his other students. "I'll take the third guard. You three try to sleep." Kakashi, Rin, and Obito nodded. After what had happened tonight it wasn't shocking that they would allow Minato to take a watch shift when they normally wouldn't. "You too, Naruto." Minato looked at him pointedly. Naruto wanted to argue against sleeping. He chose to follow the kid's example and listen to Minato.

Naruto didn't sleep much the remainder of the night. He was too worried about being attacked. Since Minato couldn't sense the assassins before, Naruto had been lying awake and trying to relocate them. When sunlight shone through the trees the next morning there was still no trace of anything. Rising with his teammates, Naruto once again took the rear of their trek. Minato had suggested that Obito move closer to the front. Obito stubbornly resisted. He returned to his spot in front of Naruto. Unlike the previous day, neither Naruto nor Obito spoke. Obito had a lot on his mind about the possibilities with his arm, and Naruto still felt uneasy about the assassins.

_I can't figure out why they would just leave after wounding Obito. They could've easily killed him._

**Killing might not be their objective.**

_Why would an assassin team be sent to merely harm a genin? _

**It seems strange, but I don't have another explanation.**

_I sometimes wish for the days when you actually had something useful to say._

**You don't think my knowledge in useful? After all the times I helped you get out of hard circumstances you got yourself into by being stupid?**

_Maybe you were useful then, but lately a lot of your answers have been 'I don't know.'_

**I figured out we were in a different time.**

_I was getting there. If you had given me a few more minutes to think, I would've come to the same conclusion._

**I doubt it. **

Turning his focus away from the Kyuubi, Naruto expanded his search range. He still couldn't sense anything. It seemed like anyone following them was gone, though he knew that didn't mean they were gone. Naruto studied Obito, who was silent. After only knowing him for several days, Naruto still found his silence unnerving. Obito was such a happy and loud person, it was strange to see him so subdued. Obito would probably perk up in a day or two. He simply needed time to deal with what had happened to him. Obito had been hurt on missions before, but never to the point where his recovery was questionable.

They should arrive at the village by nightfall. That would barely give them time to make it back in time for the chuunin exams. Thankfully the exams were in Konoha. If they had to travel to another country there was no chance of them making it in time. As it was, if anything else went wrong during the mission, they might not get back in time anyway.

**A/N: I was planning on waiting until tomorrow (Friday) to update, but since the chapter was done, I decided to update today.**

** In chapter 2 I said that Kakashi had become a chuunin when he was eight, but I was corrected. In the manga he became a chuunin at the age of six. I fixed this chapter, but not chapter 2, so it still says eight.**

**I used to write everything in one sitting, but I am trying to change that so I can write longer chapters. This one was hard to get started, but once the ball was rolling, it came easily. I hope you are enjoying the story. Thank you for reading and please take a second to review the chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

Saying he was mad would be an understatement. Minato was furious at himself. How had a shinobi managed to elude his senses? He had thought he was keeping track of everything, but still he had missed an enemy, and Obito had paid the price. Minato didn't understand medical jutsu's like Rin, but he was sure that it would be impossible for Obito to heal before the chuunin exams. Naruto had said something about permanent damage, but Minato refused to dwell on that. It was hard enough knowing that he had allowed someone to get close enough to his team to hurt them. And what had he been doing while Obito was attacked? Sleeping.

Sighing, Minato looked back at his somber team. He had volunteered for the night shift because he knew he wasn't getting any sleep that night. How could he when he would constantly be worrying about his students. While he was supposed to be their teacher and them his students, he had started to view them as family. And the thought of someone hurting his family made his blood boil. Forcing himself to calm down, Minato thought back to Obito's account of the attack. Obito said he saw a shape, but didn't see the persons face or their hitai-ate. Their enemy could be anyone from any of the hidden villages. And since they only used a kunai they didn't even know what his elemental affinity was. What they did know was that he was a master at stealth. He had trailed them for miles, maybe since they left Konoha, and none of them had picked up a trace. This shinobi was a professional.

What enemies did their client have that a professional shinobi would be sent after him? And why hadn't the shinobi attacked Keiji? He had caught all of them off guard, so why didn't he finish the job? Minato knew he wouldn't have been able to stop anything, his guard had been completely down. Only a few more hours left and the mission would be over. His job was to make sure his team didn't get into any more trouble in that time frame.

Behind him his team was quiet. The unusual silence made the miles before them seem never ending. It wasn't that their silence was uncalled for, it was just unnerving. Yesterday Obito and Kakashi had been insulting each other every few minutes, today neither had said a word. As wrong as it seemed, Minato couldn't help wishing for something to come up that would lead to Obito and Kakashi arguing again. At least that he could deal with. With the silence he was left to his own thoughts, and he knew that wasn't a good thing. He often found himself dwelling on the 'what if' and the 'could've been'. He was already blaming himself, he didn't need to think of what he could have done to change things. It was better to just let it go.

Minato put his focus into sweeping the surrounding miles for anything unusual. Nothing felt unusual, but nothing had the night before either. And the closer they got to the village the harder it would be to track someone following them. A shinobi staying in the village would feel the same as a shinobi from another country. It was a good thing they would arrive at the village by midafternoon. Minato didn't think his team could stand another night on this mission.

If Minato hadn't been putting so much focus into his surroundings he probably wouldn't have noticed it. He sensed Naruto stiffen behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Naruto's eyes were alert and looking around. Had he sensed something Minato hadn't? Holding up his right hand, Minato stopped his team from advancing. Looking straight into Naruto's eyes, Minato knew. Somehow the kid had picked up something he was missing. The slightest trembling of the earth was the only warning Minato had before a fist with metal blades attaching was coming toward him. Instinct propelled him backward. The shinobi didn't wait a second before coming at him again, this time with a well-aimed roundhouse. Minato twisted to the right, drawing a kunai. Squatting and thrusting the kunai upwards, Minato aimed for the man's chest.

The shinobi blocked the attack with the blades attached to his fists. Minato took the chance to look at the hitai-ate the man wore. Iwa. The Iwa shinobi used his grip on Minato's kunai to pull Minato forward into his knee. Grunting from the pain, Minato used the contact to weave the seals necessary to put a marking on the shinobi. Minato used his hand to grip the back of the shinobi's knees and then put his weight onto the shinobi. They both tumbled to the ground, Minato on top. He reached into his poach to draw another kunai. _Looks like I didn't need to mark him after all._

oOoOo

Despite looking for the assassins all morning, it had surprised Naruto when they suddenly attacked. In a matter of seconds he had sensed them and then they attacked. It appeared they had been following them underground. That would make sense of the fact that neither he nor Minato had been able to find a trace of them in their search the previous night. It also meant they had probably been withing yards of them the entire trip.

He and Rin were currently engaged in a battle with one of the three assassins. Minato was fighting another and Kakashi and Obito were with the remaining. Naruto wasn't worried about Minato, but Kakashi and Obito. Right now Obito was in no condition to fight, which left Kakashi to take on one of the assassins on his own. A shuriken thrown by his left ear brought Naruto's attention to the current fight. They had started with taijutsu, but the shinobi had distanced himself when he realized Naruto would have the upper hand there. Rin threw a shuriken toward the Iwa shinobi, but he dodged easily. These guys were on the same level as Anbu, meaning Rin didn't have a chance against them.

Behind Rin was Keiji, who looked like mighty confident for a man whose hired guard was under attack. "Rin, you take Keiji-san and hide, I'll fight him." Rin didn't waste time arguing. He knew that she must be thinking he was crazy: a genin versus an Iwa assassin? He was grateful that she remained quiet on the matter and did as he said. Engaging in close contact once again in an attempt to give Rin a chance to escape, Naruto allowed himself to get a scrape along his arm. It was worth it when he jabbed his own kunai into the shinobi's stomach.

Distancing himself again, Naruto waited to see what the shinobi's next move was. The shinobi weaved a hand sign and disappeared. Not taking the time to wonder where he was, Naruto went to join Kakashi in his fight. Kakashi already had several cuts and bruises, but nothing that would last. Naruto hurried as fast as he could, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the shuriken that hit Kakashi in the shoulder. A second shuriken hit Kakashi's hand. Naruto saw as he collapsed to the ground in pain. The shinobi's must've been out of shuriken because instead of throwing another weapon he started forming hand seals. Seeing the tiger seal most common in fire jutsu's, Naruto started weaving the signs for the water wall he had been working on with Minato.

Giving the assassin had a head start in his seals, Naruto allowed himself to use his full speed on his own. Finishing a step ahead, Naruto's wall sprung up just in time to block the oncoming assault. Pain flared up his right arm. _Not now!_ Losing control of the jutsu, Naruto turned his head as some of the remaining flames came toward him. He felt the heat for a second before he found himself sopping wet. Looking up, he watched as Minato's water jutsu hit the shinobi. Knowing Minato had control of the fight, he turned to Kakashi. Obito had already pulled the shuriken out of Kakashi's hand and shoulder and was using both hands to put pressure on the wounds.

Naruto crawled over to help, ignoring the sharp pain that remained in his arm. Sitting next to Kakashi, took over putting pressure on Kakashi's shoulder. Out the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Minato was finished with the shinobi and was looking for Rin and Keiji. Minato formed a sign and disappeared. He had probably marked his students after Obito was attacked. It took a few minutes for them to get back, but Rin was at Kakashi's side as soon as possible.

After looking over the wounds she spoke. "The wounds are shallow, but there was poison on the blades. It's actually a good thing that Kakashi bleed for a few seconds before you guys started putting pressure on the wound. The poison has pretty much cleared itself out of his body." Rin wrapped his hand and shoulder. "Did anyone else get cut with one of their blades?" Minato and Obito shook their heads. Obito helped Kakashi to his feet and the two plus Minato went to where Keiji stood several yards away.

Naruto looked at his own arm. The cut was almost healed and he was sure the Kyuubi could handle the bit of poison. Rin must've noticed him looking at his arm. "Roll up your sleeve." His first instinct was to refuse, afraid she would find more than just a cut along his arm, but if he refused he would appear even more suspicious. Rolling up his sleeve he reasoned that all she was looking for were hints of poison. She wouldn't be looking at his chakra points, just his blood stream. Since Rin started healing the cut without reopening the wound, Naruto figured she hadn't found traces of poison and would be done soon.

It was Rin's sudden frown that alerted him that she had examined his chakra points. Resisting the urge to pull his arm away, he tried to act normal, like he didn't think anything was wrong. Rin examined more along his arm before finally releasing him. She stared at him for a second before speaking. "Did you know that the chakra circulatory system in your arm is damaged?" Naruto decided playing dumb would be the best way to get out of an explanation. He shook his head. Rin looked at him with unbelief. "The damage is so bad that I can't believe you are able to control chakra at all. You don't have any idea what could've caused this damage?" Again Naruto shook his head. Rin sighed. "If you had an affinity for any other element, this would be slightly less troublesome. Using water element is all about having the water flow, which uses more of the chakra control in your hands than any of the other elements."

That would be why it hadn't bothered him much until now. He had only started learning water jutsu's in the past few months, and the jutsu he had just used was the only water jutsu he could actually do. The damage was probably responsible for his loss of control back in his own time as well. He knew as soon as he was injured that the damage was bad, but he also knew there was nothing that could be done about it. He hadn't even bothered mentioning it to Tsunade. All she would do was worry and there was no point in that.

Rin continued to stare at him, probably doubting his claim that he didn't know the source of his injury. He shrugged and walked passed her. "We need to finish the mission."

As the two of them joined the rest of Team Minato, Naruto spoke to Minato. "The one I was fighting before got away, but he was injured. I don't see him being a threat anymore; my kunai went into one of his lung, so he won't make it long."

Minato nodded then turned to address the entire team. "We should be at the village in about an hour. Keep your guard up at all times."

Before any of them could agree, Keiji spoke up. "The team sent after me is dead, so I will be safe for the rest of my journey. There is no need for you to travel with me any further."

They stared at Keiji. He had hired them to escort him to his village when there was seemingly no threat and then after it was revealed that there _was _a threat, he released them? Minato challenged Keiji's statement. "We were hired to protect you until you reached the village. You don't know if another group was sent after you, so it would be best if we finished the mission we were assigned."

"I am almost at my village. In a few miles my personal guard will join me and escort me the rest of the way." There was more to Keiji's desire to go on alone than what he was saying, but Naruto couldn't name the reason.

"If that's the case then let us travel with you until we reach your guard. No harm can come from us joining you nor will it cost you more money." Minato reasoned, but Keiji shook his head.

Naruto couldn't understand why Keiji was so determined to go the last bit alone. He had hired them to take him to his village, yet he was releasing them from their mission several miles early. He should know how close he had been to danger. One look at Obito or Kakashi would tell Keiji just how lucky he was to be alive. If he had been alone then he would probably be dead, not standing here without any scratches. _Which is odd. _Naruto thought. Three professional assassins had been sent after Keiji, yet he was the only one that hadn't been attacked. That only made sense if Keiji wasn't the one targeted, which meant that…"This is all a trap!" Naruto shouted.

The three kids jumped at his sudden shout, while Minato and Keiji stared at him. Keiji widened his eyes. "What do you mean?" Minato was the first to ask.

"We're supposedly here to protect him, but we seem to be the ones actually in danger. Those shinobi were after us, not Keiji-san." Naruto pointed a finger at Keiji. "And I think he's in on it. From the start he's been nothing but confident, which is strange for someone who's being threatened. And now he's trying to get us to leave instead of escorting him to the village. It's probably because no one in the village will recognize him."

Keiji snorted. "That theory is preposterous. I just see no point in wasting your time when the danger is over. I'm merely being practical."

"And how do you know the danger's gone?" Minato questioned. "What makes you so certain that those were the only shinobi sent after you? For all you know another squad could be right behind them." From his tone, it was clear Minato doubted Keiji's innocence. Naruto was relieved that Minato believed him, more relieved than he would've expected.

Keiji and Minato glared at each other. Keiji looked away first. "You have no proof of this."

He was right. They had nothing that tied Keiji to the attacks on them, only theories. Minato was still glaring at Keiji. "You said we were released from the mission, which means you are no longer our client." He took a step toward Keiji, his special kunai drawn. "We are in war with Iwa and a theory is all that we need to stop anyone who may be associated with Iwa."

"And if the theory is wrong, then you're going to be killing a Fire Country village leader." Keiji's voice cracked. He wasn't denying his connection to Iwa.

Minato took another step. "But the theory's not wrong. Is it?" For the first time since leaving Konoha there was fear in Keiji's eyes. He turned to run, but in a yellow flash he was dead.

oOoOo

Minato had started suspecting something strange when he saw that Keiji was unharmed. Then Keiji had argued against them continuing with him, and that had caused his suspicions to grow. It wasn't until Naruto said that it was a trap that he had connected all of the dots. This entire mission had been a trap arranged to take out a Konoha team. Which Konoha team didn't matter; each team was guaranteed to have at least a jonin or a chuunin. Minato knew the Iwa shinobi feared him, which explained why they didn't attack him the night Obito was hurt. He was lucky they didn't know how unaware he had been at that moment.

He faced his team, who were looking at him with anticipation. "What?"

Obito looked at Rin and Naruto before speaking. "Can we still participate in the chuunin exams?"

He hadn't expected that question. He had thought they all knew that Obito's injury was too bad for him to compete. "Not this time, but I'll make sure you're at the one that'll take place in six months."

The three genin frowned." Minato-san, we're a team, which means that we'll be there as back up for Obito. I know the exam is going to be dangerous, but you need to give us a chance." Naruto argued.

"Minato-sensei, you have to let us! I can still fight taijutsu with my right arm and both of my legs, so I won't be completely useless. PPlleeaassee." Obito begged. Minato knew he shouldn't have, but he needed to stop being so overprotective of his team. They were shinobi, not children, and if they thought they were ready for the exams he should allow them to participate. Reluctantly he agreed. If they managed to get to the final round, then Obito had a month to heal before he had to fight in the finals. Obito jumped up and down and hugged him with one arm, then went and high fived Naruto. Rin was unusually quiet, but still seemed happy at the chance to become chuunin. Kakashi just looked like he was ready to go home and get away from everyone.

On the journey home Minato had chosen to be in the back, giving himself a chance to watch his students. Obito was chattering again, this time about how cool Naruto had been, figuring everything out and all. Occasionally Kakashi would offer Obito an insult or tell him to shut up. Minato chuckled. Maybe he shouldn't have wished for the two of them to get back to normal. Looking at Rin, he noticed she was unusually quiet. When she looked at him, he motioned for her to slow down and walk with him. "The boys are back to normal, but you still seem to be dwelling on something. What's wrong?"

Rin hesitated before she looked over at the boys in front of them. Minato followed her eyes and saw she was looking at Naruto. "Naruto-kun had been scratched by one of the Iwa shinobi's kunai, so I examined his arm." She drew in a breath. "During the examination, I saw that his chakra circulatory system was damaged. Damaged isn't even the right word, it was more like it had shattered. It's amazing that he was able to form a little of the water shield, let alone do it perfectly a few days ago. The damage should make it nearly impossible for him to control chakra with that arm. I asked him if he knew what caused it, but he said he didn't. He didn't seem to even know his arm was damaged."

The kids arm was that bad? Maybe that was way he was still a genin at his age. "It's possible that he had his memory wiped or the attack was so traumatic to him that he blocked it out." He looked down at Rin. "Is there any way you can fix his arm?"

She shook her head. "The damage is on a cellular level, which means that no amount of medical jutsu's could reconstruct it." Minato sighed. So the kid was stuck with a bad arm. He didn't know why that bothered him so much, but he couldn't stand the thought of the kid suffering. "There was one more thing, Sensei." Rin looked uncertain. "An attack on his arm would make the damage inward, Naruto's damage is outward." Now he was confused. Rin continued. "If the damage is outward that would mean the jutsu that damaged Naruto's arm came from the inside, not the outside like an attack would. Whatever happened, I think it was self-inflicted."

Even after reporting to the Hokage and returning home, Minato still couldn't get Rin's words out of his head. Self-inflicted? Why would Naruto injure his own arm? And what kind of jutsu could damage someone's arm like that? A jutsu with that ability would be at least A-rank. Had Naruto attempted to master a jutsu that was too difficult for him, the end result being the damage to his arm? Rin said Naruto claimed he didn't know anything about the injury, but was that really the truth? And what of the chuunin exams? Though Naruto had performed the water shield once there was no guarantee he could do it again. Was it right to allow them to enter into such a dangerous exam when the only one who could use jutsu's were Rin?

Minato rolled over in bed. He agreed to nominate them, and he wouldn't go back on his word. He just hoped he didn't live to regret it.

**A/N: I've been getting reviews that are telling me I am giving Minato and Naruto the wrong elemental affinity, so I just want to clear that up. In this story, Naruto's affinity is for Wind, but he has also mastered Fire. When he was sent to the past he was attempting to learn Water, so he lied to everyone by saying his affinity is for Water. This allows him to practice Water without people wondering why a genin knows more than one element. As for Minato, I have never found anything that says Minato's element, so I took the liberty to give him one. The same will go for Rin when she uses jutsu's. **

**Thank you for taking the time to read this and I ask that you please review.**


	10. Chapter 10

Obito refused to listen to the voice of doubt that played in the back of his head. Instead he chose to focus on the fact that he finally had an opportunity to become a chuunin. If he did become a chuunin, then he wouldn't have to suffer through Kakashi's claims of being higher ranking anymore. For the first time they would be equals.

"Obito! Come eat your breakfast before its cold!" His mother's voice sounded down the hall. Obito jumped off his bed, knowing that ignoring his mother was not the wisest choice. He felt dread settle into his stomach when he saw that his father had not yet left for work. In the mornings Obito tried to stay in bed until he knew his father had left for his work at the Konoha police force, but occasionally his father would still be there when he went down for breakfast. Settling into his chair across the table from his father, Obito waited to see who would break the silence first. It was his mother who spoke first. "What are your plans for the day, Obito? Do you have training with your team?"

Today was the start of the chuunin exams, his mother knew that. What his parents didn't know was that he had entered. He chose not to tell them because he knew they wouldn't care. His mom asked about things like that, but it was only because she couldn't stand the silence. She didn't care about what was going on in his life. And his reason for not telling his father was his own fear of failing. His father put so much pressure on him, saying that an Uchiha should succeed at everything they do. If Obito failed the exam, then his father would have many words for him, none of them being kind. He had gotten used to his father constantly belittling him, but he still tried to avoid it when he could. He didn't know what his father would say if he knew that his arm was damaged pretty badly. Probably something about how stupid he was to have his guard down during a mission.

His father cleared his throat. Obito realized that his mother was still waiting for a reply. "I have a mission today, a C-rank. We're going to be leaving the village, and I'll probably be gone for a few days." Obito shoveled his food in, hoping to be done with breakfast as quickly as possible. His mother walked into the hallway, heading for her bedroom. If things got to quiet or if she didn't have anything to say, she would go to her room, curl up, and read a book. He honestly didn't know what was wrong with his mother, but she truly despised silence.

With his mother gone, Obito's desire to eat faster intensified. His father rarely spoke to him when his mother was around. "A C-rank mission, huh? At your age not only was I a chuunin, but I had also completed several B-rank missions. They assign the missions based on skill level. If you're not at the skill to complete a B-rank, then they won't assign you one." It was true, he had never been on a B-rank. But he wasn't the only one on his team; he wasn't necessarily the one holding the team back. It wasn't his fault that his sharingan hadn't developed yet.

"I've been working on my jutsu's, though. I am now able to do six different fire justu's." And he had learned every single one of them without the help the sharingan gave its user.

"But you still don't have your sharingan? How can you expect to be a shinobi if you can't even awaken your own kekkei genkei?" His father wasn't sneering, he never did. His father would simply state everything as a fact.

Obito picked up his empty plate and put it in the sink. "There are many great shinobi without a kekkei genkei." He didn't say anything more as he rushed out the front door. While this morning hadn't been too bad, he had no desire to continue his conversation with his father. His father had only ever acted cold toward him. Even as a kid, Obito had been different. The other Uchiha kids put practicing and training first, even those too young for the academy. He had always been the one to sit down and play with a lonely kid or stand around and talk to an elderly merchant. Not only had his focus been different, but his personality as well. Most Uchiha's were quiet and stern, but he had always been loud and carefree.

When the bullying started was when his perspective on life changed. He saw people for who they really were, a bunch of lost souls trying to find their place in this world. And if ostracizing an outcast made them feel better about themselves, that's what they would do. But even when they were hitting him, Obito knew not to let them win. He didn't know how he knew; he just couldn't stand the idea of them feeling better about themselves by making him feel worse. He wasn't physically strong enough to fight them, so he did the only thing he could; he kept smiling. If they didn't know how much pain in he was in, then they wouldn't think they had won. So despite the bullying he still endured from his family and his clan, he kept his smile in place.

It's not like it was a fake smile. No, he did enjoy life more than most. He was loud because he knew that sometimes people needed someone to be obnoxious to make them smile. It was his goal to be a light to those who had suffered, to be someone who they looked to when they were upset. He smiled because he knew his place in his clan, something that the bully's didn't know. He was the black sheep of the Uchiha clan, and he was proud of it.

oOoOo

Despite his plans to meet his team before the exams started, Minato found himself in the doorway of the Hokage's office. Earlier that morning the Sandaime had requested a meeting with him. Minato didn't know what the meeting was about, but he suspected it would be about one of his students. What other reason was there to meet before the start of the exams? Minato rapped on the side of the doorframe. The Sandaime's voice called him in.

Upon entering the room, Minato saw that the Sandaime was not sitting at his desk like usual, but was standing by his office window. The Sandaime smiled at him before turning back to the window. "Do you believe your students are ready for the teamwork the exams will require?"

"Their teamwork is good. They listen to each other and there are no power struggles within the group. It's their skills that I am worried about." Both Naruto and Obito were wounded, leaving Rin to be the only one capable of performing a good jutsu.

The Sandaime nodded. "That's why I asked you here, to discuss Naruto-kun." He turned away from the window, choosing instead to lean against it. "Your report says that Naruto-kun has an old injury that is most likely from a powerful jutsu. I saw Rin-chan yesterday and she said the damage was most likely self-inflicted." Minato had been trying to think of reasons Naruto had been hurt. The only one that he could think of that wouldn't make Naruto appear dishonest would be if he had been trying a new jutsu and ended up damaging his arm. The Sandaime continued. "I know you like the boy, Minato-san, but it is my belief that he is hiding something. I would like you to talk with him after the chuunin exams."

He didn't want to suspect Naruto of anything, but he would have to do as the Hokage asked. And the Sandaime was right. Naruto was a newcomer to the village and everything he did would be under close scrutiny for a while. The fact was he should've already questioned Naruto. He should've asked how Naruto hurt himself immediately after Rin told him about the injury, but he hadn't wanted to think that Naruto was lying to them. There was just something about the boy that made Minato want to believe the best of him.

oOoOo

Rin stood by the entrance to the academy waiting for her team. They had agreed to meet a few minutes before the exams were scheduled to start. It had been a good call to meet prior, because she needed her teammate's assurance right now. She couldn't help feeling that the burden of passing the exams was on her. While she was confident in her medical skills, her battle skills worried her. As a medical shinobi she had been trained to defend herself and help her teammates. It had been a long time since she fought offense, and she wasn't sure she could fight well enough without Obito or Naruto to back her up. At least both would be able to use taijutsu.

"Rin, is Sensei meeting with you before the exams?" Surprised, she looked over at the source of the question. She hadn't expected Kakashi to come.

"He said he would, but he's not here yet." She debated letting his presence go unquestioned, but her curiosity won out. "Why are you here, Kakashi? Since you aren't taking the exams I didn't expect you to show up."

"Sensei has been telling me repeatedly that teamwork is important. I don't see what the big deal is, but I thought that if I showed up to support you guys, then he might stop bringing up teamwork as much." Kakashi's sounded condescending. Rin suspected he _was_ there to support them, but didn't want it to be known. If he was just there to get Minato to stop bothering him, then he would've been more frustrated that Minato wasn't here and he also wouldn't have bothered coming up with an excuse. Kakashi only explained himself when he felt he had to defend himself.

A loud shout of, "GOOD MORNING" alerted Rin and Kakashi to Obito and Naruto's approach. Rin giggled as Kakashi complained about their loudness, saying it was 'too early in the day to be so disrespectful of nature's stillness.' Naruto and Obito joined in her laughter, frustrating Kakashi more. When it looked like Kakashi might leave, Rin changed the subject. "You're here on time, Obito. I'm surprised."

Naruto snickered. Obito shot a glare at him before speaking. "I had no choice. Naruto here saw me coming this direction and joined me to prevent there from being any 'distractions.'" Obito's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I told him I would make it in plenty of time without his assistance, but nooo, he said he very much doubted that." Obito grumbled under his breathe. Rin was sure she could make out the words 'stupid' and 'know-it-all.' Rin laughed at Obito's anger towards Naruto, only because she knew it wasn't real. Over the past few days Obito and Naruto had become good friends, and though she didn't know Naruto well, she knew enough about both of them to know that they were only trying to relieve some of the tension. She was relieved and thankful. Without any words directly to her or about the exams they had managed to change her mood completely.

Rin heard the _pop_ of a transportation jutsu, and Minato was standing before them. "As nice as this meeting is, it's time for you three to start the first exam." Looking at the clock Rin saw that Minato was right; they only had ten minutes to get to the classroom. Minato had always taught them to be early whenever possible. Well, he taught most of them that. "I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier, but the Hokage requested me. We'll talk after the exams. Good luck." Minato looked at all three of them, his gaze lingering on Naruto the longest. "Let's go, Kakashi." Minato waved and walked toward another of the school buildings, Kakashi trailing behind him.

"We should get going ourselves. You never know what kind of encounters we'll face along the way." Naruto was already entering the building. Rin and Obito both followed. The hallways were littered with teams from different villages; she was surprised to see that Iwa had sent genin. With the ongoing war she had assumed Iwa would refuse to send genin to Konoha, but it appeared otherwise. She voiced her questions to her teammates. Naruto looked over at one of the Iwa teams, who were currently lounging on the floor. "The chuunin exams are a long standing tradition between the shinobi hidden villages. Every six months they take place without fail, and if a team of genin ever wants to be promoted they have to participate in the exams. It is even more important in wartime. The genin need to become chuunin so they can be given higher ranking missions and help out with the war effort."

"So if the exams took place in Iwa, we would be sent?" Obito asked. Rin hadn't thought of what their own village would've done if the exams were in Iwa. She didn't know how she would feel about being sent into the enemy's hidden village.

Naruto nodded. "Konoha needs shinobi to become chuunin just as much as Iwa does. The villages are relying on the tradition of the chuunin exams to prevent any traps from taking place."

Up until then Rin had only been feeling the pressure of passing the exams for her team, but now she worried about her village. They were in a war and needed higher ranking shinobi. As genin they were only assigned D-rank or C-rank missions, and most of the war effort was at least a B-rank. Her village needed them to pass the exams.

"I see that you have come to test your youthfulness." Rin looked behind her and saw the only person who had a smile more obnoxious than Obito's: Maito Gai. As was usual, he was wearing green tights, which made him stand out in any crowd. "My overflowing youth will surpass yours." Rin couldn't help rolling her eyes. Gai was a good fighter, especially in taijutsi, but he was annoying. Rin knew even Kakashi would prefer to spend the entire day with Obito rather than spend one hour with Gai.

"Where's your team, Gai?" Obito asked.

Gai looked behind him and his shoulders drooped. "It appears they have left me to reach my destination alone."

"You can walk the rest of the way with us." Rin said before she could stop herself. Why did she have to be so nice to people? Gai's face lit up like someone had just told him he would stay young forever. Thanking her, he fell into step beside them. The walk to the third floor wasn't all that bad. Obito and Gai talked to each other and were loud, but Naruto made sure to keep them reigned in. Though sometimes he would still be loud, Rin was glad Naruto was at least more mature than Obito. While still being loud, Naruto had begun keeping Obito from crossing the line into being obnoxious.

The door leading into the exam room was open. Entering the room, Rin realized there were more teams taking the exam than she thought. There were twice as many people in the room than there had been in the hallway. The room was bigger than any she remembered visiting during her time in the academy. The room would hold around 120 students. There were three groups of chairs, each one 20 chairs deep and 6 chairs wide.

Standing next to the door was a chuunin who was directing each genin on where to sit. It looked like they were going to be split up. The chuunin gave them their seat numbers. Sure enough, Rin was sitting in 1D6 and Naruto and Obito in 3C4 and 3J2 respectively. Gai was sitting in 2G5. "Remember not to stress out." Naruto touched her shoulder before heading over to his seat. Obito gave her a thumbs up, grinning. He followed Naruto to the third section. Gai hung around until he spotted his own team and made his way over to them.

Taking her own seat, Rin felt anxiety creep up at her. Fighting it she tried to reason. They were in a classroom so it was probably a written test, not a battle, so she shouldn't have to worry. The remaining two minutes ticked by slowly. Finally, when Rin thought she might burst, the doors shut and the instructor appeared with a _pop_. "I am Yamanaka Isamu. I am the examiner of the first test in the chuunin exams. The first test will be a written test with ten questions. You will start the test with ten points and each wrong answer will take away one of the points. An unanswered question counts as a wrong question. If you get two wrong your score will be an eight. You will be graded as teams. If one team member fails, then the entire team fails. And lastly, anyone caught cheating will have two points subtracted for every offense. Do not look at the test until I say to start."

The chuunin's passed out the exams and then sat down in chairs on either side of the room. They would be watching for any cheating. "You have one hour. Begin." Rustling paper was the only sound in the room. Rin read through the questions first. It was no wonder they gave an hour for ten questions! All of the questions had at least four steps to them. Starting on the first, Rin hoped Naruto and Obito would be able to answer at least half of them. She knew Obito would probably get two or three wrong, but she had no clue how Naruto did on written tests. Rin worked quickly, hoping to be done before the allotted time was up. If a question gave her some difficulty, she skipped it, hoping to have time to return later.

It was halfway into the exams when she looked up from her papers to check the time. She was shocked to see how many teams were gone, she had blocked out any noises that might be distracting. Also, it appeared that several of the genin were still cheating. If they could do it well and not get caught, then why not? She only hoped Obito didn't attempt to cheat, because she was sure he would be caught and lose more points for them. Turning back to her own paper, she went back to the questions she had skipped. Doing the problems at a slower pace now, she finished the three questions in the next twenty minutes. What was she supposed to do with the remaining ten minutes?

Another team was dismissed, then another. When the bell rang signaling the end of the test, only a third of the genin remained. The proctor stood up again. "It looks like the number of suitable genin this year is fewer than in previous years. The twenty teams remaining have passed the first exam and will have a two hour break before meeting up at the forty-fourth training ground." Isamu disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The doors behind them opened. Rin got up to join her teammates. As she walked over to Obito, she was relieved when she saw that Gai's team and Asuma's team had both passed the first exam.

"How do you think you did on the test?" Rin asked the boys.

Naruto shrugged. "I got more right than I did wrong, and Obito said the same a few seconds ago. I don't think anything else matters."

Rin was going to ask if they had to cheat, but decided not to. It didn't matter anyway; they had passed the first test. "What do you think the second test will be?"

Obito thought for a second. "It'll probably be another team thing. We're might have to battle as teams or something. Eventually they're going to split us up into individuals, though."

What? She _knew_ the exams would become individual competitions, but she hadn't _thought_ of it. What would happen to Obito and Naruto when they were left to fight for themselves? Rin pushed the fear down. Both were good shinobi and knew how to fight beyond just using ninjutsu. They would both be okay.

"Wait! I've heard of the forty-fourth training ground. I heard a few chuunin referring to it as the Forest of Death." Obito shouted. Rin shuddered. Obito must have noticed for he tried to make it seem less daunting. "It's probably just a name they use to scare people. The training ground is in the middle of Konoha! It can't be that dangerous."

Two hours later when they were standing in front of a heavily locked forest Obito had a different opinion.

**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	11. Chapter 11

To say the forest was scary would be like saying Kakashi had an attitude problem. In other words, an understatement. Obito looked over the forest wondering what was so dangerous that the forest had to be caged. Nothing on the outside was particularly menacing, there was just a presence about the forest the screamed death. Huh, maybe that's where it got its name from. That or people who had actually died there. Not a good train of thought.

Obito looked around at the other genin, each one showing the same fear he felt. The only person that didn't seem afraid was Naruto. Studying Naruto from the corner of his eye, Obito saw no evident signs of distress. In fact, Naruto's mouth was curled upwards in what appeared to be a smile. What he was smiling about, Obito didn't know, but he was thankful to have the one person who wasn't intimidated on his team. Unless Naruto was just being an idiot. Then being teammates wouldn't be a good thing.

Facing the forest once again, Obito listened as the proctor explained the second exam. The rules seemed pretty simple. Each team would get a scroll that was either Earth or Heaven and they could not open the scroll under any circumstances. They would have to battle to get the opposite scroll from their opponent. After they had both scrolls they would make their way to the fort in the center of the forest. They had five days to complete the exam.

"Before you pick up your scroll you need to fill out a consent form." The proctor stated. "All it says is that you know the forest is dangerous and it isn't out fault if you die." Leading his team towards the tents, Obito grabbed three of the forms and passed two back to Rin and Naruto. Reading the paper, Obito hesitated for a moment. He had known the chuunin exams would be hard, but he hadn't thought death was a possibility. Was this test really worth dying for? Was becoming a chuunin important enough to him that he would risk death? It was no wonder Minato had been so worried about them taking the exams while injured.

Ignoring the increasing fear, Obito signed his name before he could find new reasons to doubt. Naruto had already signed his and looked confident of his decision, but Rin was still hesitating. If Rin didn't sign the form then they wouldn't be able to participate in the exam. As much as he wanted to become a chuunin, Obito was going to pressure Rin into signing the form. If she wasn't ready to risk her life in the exam, then he wasn't going to try to force her to. Rin drew in a deep breathe. Her hand was shaking as she signed her form. Heading back into the tent, Obito held his breath as they were handed a Heaven scroll.

The three genin stood in front of the entrance to the Forest of Death alone, the teams having all been sent to different entrances. The next few days were sure to be some of the hardest in their lives, and it started when the gates before them opened. A part of Obito was dreading the gates opening, and another part was a little excited. If they made it through the forest he had only one more step before he became a chuunin, and he couldn't wait.

"We should have a basic plan before the gates open." Naruto said.

Obito nodded. "We don't know what kind of plants or animals are in the forest, which means the only thing we can plan for is our battles against others teams."

"We won't be able to know if a team has Earth or Heaven until after we confront them." Rin was looking at the top of the fence. "We need to be cautious; we can't just go attacking every team we come across. What's the best way to find out what scroll a team has without starting a fight?"

No one answered immediately. After a stretch of silence, Naruto made a suggestion. "As stupid as it sounds, why don't we just ask what scroll they have? If we have the same scroll as the other team, then we both part ways. If we have different scrolls, we battle."

Asking outright seemed crazy, but then so did engaging in battle with every team they came across. "We should try to avoid teams that look stronger than us." Rin said. Obito and Naruto nodded in agreement.

Time dragged on as they waited for the gates to open. When Obito heard the distant clang of the bell signally the start of the exam, he felt relieved. The forest couldn't be worse than what he had been able to conjure up in his imagination in the past few minutes. The gate slid open slowly, giving them only a small glimpse of the forest at first. When the gates were opened completely Obito took a quick survey of the forest. From what he could tell, it didn't look particularly scary, just a little dark. Nothing about it looked anomalous.

Naruto entered the forest first, Obito and Rin on his heels. They were only a few feet into the forest when Obito heard a loud _clang! _behind him. Turning around he saw that the gate had been shut. They were locked in. "It looks like the only way out is to make it to the center." Rin's voice was a pitch higher than normal. Still not worried, Obito took the lead from Naruto. He didn't know where he was heading, but it only made sense to head into the forest.

"We should have someone keeping an eye out for enemy shinobi." Obito suggested.

Naruto volunteered. While it was nice that Naruto was taking responsibilities and helping their team, it seemed that Naruto was more withdrawn than he had been the first week he was there. Obito didn't know what had happened, but it seemed to have started when Naruto found out about the damage to his arm. The day after they got back he followed Naruto to the training grounds. For hours Naruto tried to use that water shield jutsu, but it never worked properly. A few times he had managed to make a wall appear, but it was never as strong as it had been the first time he did it while training with Minato. Obito felt bad that Naruto's element was water, because from what he could understand the damage to his arm mostly affected his chakra control. If he were to use an element were the control wasn't based in his hands, like fire, wind, and earth, then he would be able to perform jutsu's with only a slight problem.

The further they went into the forest, the thicker the trees became. While they didn't encounter any shinobi, they did have to fight a swarm of some kind of hybrid bug. Rin did most of the work, using her knowledge of medical herbs to figure out the bugs weaknesses. Of course their weakness was some kind of gas that stunk and had a lingering smell.

"There's a team about a mile ahead of us." Naruto alerted them. "They aren't moving."

"Should we approach them?" Obito could already feel the excitement of having their first fight. As much as he hated death, there was something thrilling about having a battle.

"We have to start somewhere." Was all Naruto said before picking up his speed. Rin went ahead of Naruto, giving that she was going to be the biggest part of the upcoming battles. Several yards from the other genin team they stopped. Naruto took a moment to look for traps before announcing that it was clear. Keeping their guard up, they entered the small clearing. The other team was on the other side of the clearing, all three ready for battle. Obito recognized them as the Iwa shinobi he had seen sitting on the ground at the first exam. He felt slightly unsettled taking the exam with shinobi from the country they were at war with.

"Heaven or Earth?" The middle Iwa shinobi asked. He was shorter than the other two, with brown hair and brown eyes. The one on the right of him had red hair and black eyes, and the other had black hair with green eyes. From their positioning it appeared that the middle shinobi was regarded as the leader of the team.

Obito didn't appreciate being the one questioned instead of the questioner. Naruto answer the Iwa shinobi. "Heaven."

The middle one grimaced. "Same."

"Aww, no battle! I was looking forward to getting the Earth scroll." Obito complained.

The shinobi on the left stepped forward. "You're lucky we have the same scroll." He spoke in a chilling tone. "If you fought against us you wouldn't have won." A shiver went down Obito's spine.

The Iwa genin paid no heed to them as they turned and left the clearing. "Something's not right about them." Rin whispered. Obito couldn't help buy agree. That one guy had really freaked him out! It wasn't what he said so much as how he said it. Even with them having the same scroll, the Iwa shinobi were a team they needed to be cautious about.

Five hours later Rin suggested they set a trap. It went against their questions first, attacking second plan, but there was a chance they could get lucky. They didn't want to spend the entire five days searching for a good team to battle. It was still early into the exam, but the genin were probably less careful now than they would be in another day. Obito worked with Rin laying down the traps, while Naruto kept guard. After the explosives were set up, Rin cast a genjutsu around the area to make it appear undisturbed. If another shinobi came by, all they would see was shrubbery. Obito hid himself in the branches of one of the trees. With nothing to do but wait, time went by slowly. It was approaching the three hour mark when Obito was able to sense another team.

Ten minutes later Naruto was proudly holding an Earth scroll. The genin team from Shimo easily fell prey to their trap. The team was intellectually smart, which was why they passed the first exam, but the team was lacking in battle skills. Naruto put the Earth scroll into his weapon pouch. Rin was holding the Heaven scroll.

Team Awesome, as Obito had decided to call them, resumed their trek to the center of the forest. It was only a few hours in and they already had both scrolls. Naruto went ahead of them to scout out the area, leaving Rin and Obito alone.

"We still need to be careful." Rin warned. "We can't let anyone know we have both scrolls, because then anyone could fight against us. If someone asks we are going to tell them what are original scroll was. There's no need to fight if we don't have to." Rin's suddenly looked worried. "There's a team heading our way from the left. From their pace I think they're coming here to fight." Not having any time to prepare traps, Rin and Obito did as the Iwa team did to them; they lined up by the tree line and waited for the approaching team. "I think it's the Iwa shinobi from earlier. They must've found out we have both scrolls and are now coming to get the Earth scroll." Rin had barely finished her sentence before a burst of fire shot towards them.

oOoOo

As much as he hated to admit it, Kakashi was bored. He had no missions and no friends. The only people he ever talked to were his teammates and all of them were busy. Even Minato was busy. He didn't say what he was doing, but Kakashi was sure it had to do with his girlfriend. Minato was probably trying to make up for being caught up in work for the past few weeks. From what Kakashi knew of Kushina he knew that she wouldn't be too happy with the lack of time spent with her boyfriend.

Not having anything else to do, Kakashi made his way to the bookstore. Maybe they had something good to read there. He was so bored he could read just about anything.

oOoOo

The fire had come from behind them, not in front of them. Rin gasped as she narrowly avoided the fire. They were being ambushed from behind! Rin took her focus off them Iwa shinobi heading their way, and direct it towards the shinobi in front of them. Their hitai-ate said they were from Shimo, which meant that the team they had won the scroll from had sold them out. Knowing she was an easy target on the ground, Rin made her way into the trees. Looking down she saw that Obito was gone. Dread filled her. Obito wouldn't be able to do much to fight right now. Hopefully the shinobi went after her instead.

One of the boys and the girl followed her into the trees, but the third ran into the forest, probably after Obito. The Shimo male shinobi sent a wave of water at her. She jumped to a higher branch to avoid the attack. She wasn't good elemental justu's yet, but she could use genjutsu's. She formed the hand seals, and concentrated. Her goal was to cast an illusion on the forest and have the shinobi wander in the wrong direction. Then she would go after Obito. No luck. One of the shinobi fell under the illusion, but the other released him.

Jumping to another tree branch, Rin tried a small earth jutsu to shake the earth, trying to through the genin's balance off enough for her to be able to hit them using taijutsu. The girl, the stronger of the two, sent another wave of water towards her, this time with the boy adding his own electricity to it. Knowing the danger of the elemental mix, Rin tried to jump higher, but got caught in her own jutsu. The rumbling earth threw her towards the ground. Gasping in pain, Rin looked up to see the genin jumping down to approach her. The male was almost at the bottom of the tree when bolt of lightning set the tree on fire. Rin looked behind her and saw the three Iwa shinobi from earlier.

While the red haired one helped her to her feet, the other two fought against the Shimo shinobi. Rin watched, amazed at their skill. The Iwa genin left the Shimo genin unconscious, but alive. Reaching into their pouch, the Iwa genin leader pulled out an Earth scroll. "Eureka!" The middle shinobi grinned.

Rin looked at them, confused. They weren't giving off the same attitude they had earlier. The leader put the scroll in his poach and walked over to her. "Are you okay?" He sounded like he was actually concerned.

"Y-y-yes" Rin stuttered out.

The leader cocked his head to the side. The black haired shinobi that had frightened her took a step toward her. "Are you sure, because you don't sound it."

Why were they acting concerned about her? A few hours ago these very same people had spoken to her in a scary way, not to mention they were Iwa shinobi! Yet here they were asking if she was okay. "Why did you help me after practically threatening my team earlier?" Rin found her courage.

The leader looked confused for a second. Hid face brightening in realization, then his expression turned sheepish. "Oh, sorry 'bout that." He rubbed the back of his neck. "See you were the third team we encountered and you all had the Heaven scroll. Daisuke was getting tired of it all and thought it would be more entertaining if he frightened the other teams."

The one called Daisuke smiled at her. "I was frustrated that we were only finding Heaven scrolls. I mean, what are the odds of finding three teams with the Heaven scroll and none with the Earth?"

The leader turned back to the unconscious Shimo genin. "We didn't see where the third and you teammate headed off to. Do you have any idea where your friend would go first?"

She had almost forgotten about Obito! And Naruto was still out there in the woods somewhere to.

oOoOo

There weren't any signs of shinobi on the path in front of them, but Naruto laid a few traps anyway. The traps weren't to stop anyone more than to alert their own team to their presence. Turning around, Naruto headed back to where he left his team. There was a small presence to his left, which slowly grew bigger. He knew the feel of the person, it was Obito. Changing course, Naruto hurried over to where he knew Obito was heading. Naruto used his ability to feel chakra to see the condition Obito was in. He was being followed by someone.

Obito came into his view. Naruto saw Obito make the hand seals for a fire jutsu. The fire was weak, but it had the desired effect of giving Obito a chance to run. The other shinobi shot a blast of fire back at Obito. He dodged, but it was clear that Obito was exhausted. He had probably been doing the weak fire jutsu repeatedly for a while now.

Naruto was still a bit of a distance away, the trees being thicker and more difficult to run through. Obito barely dodged the next attack from the enemy shinobi. Naruto saw the panicked look on his face when he realized he had been backed into a tree. The enemy shinobi made the hand signs for another fire jutsu. Naruto acted without thinking. He jumped in front of Obito and made the hand signs for a water justu. He allowed his hands to go at their normal pace, which gave him the edge. As the water wall formed in front of him, pain shot down his arm and the water fell. Gasping for air, Naruto saw the fire coming towards him. Without the ability to use water justu, and with the speed that the jutsu was coming towards them, he had no choice. Ignoring the pain in his arm, Naruto made the hand seals for Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. Fire met fire in enough time to save Naruto and Obito from the attack.

Naruto moved into the smoke from the fire and attacked the shinobi with taijustu. The shinobi had been well trained in ninjutsu, but his taijutsu was lacking. Naruto hit him with an upper cut to his jaw that left the shinobi gasping for air on the ground. A jab to the face and the shinobi was knocked out. Naruto went back to the tree he had left Obito on, hoping the kid was okay.

Naruto was met with a wide eyed, gaping Uchiha. Not only was Obito okay, but he had witnessed Naruto use a fire jutsu.

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updated lately. College applications take priority over my writing, though. The past few weeks have been so busy, every time I sat down to write I would get called to do something or another. Thank you for having patience with me (well, you could've gotten frustrated with me, but I choose to believe you were patient.) **

**This chapter and the next are the two I've been looking forward to writing the most! Thank you for reading and please review.**


	12. Chapter 12

Naruto stared at Obito, who was sputtering. Naruto opened his mouth to offer an explanation, but found that none came to mind. After what felt like an eternity, Obito opened his mouth to speak.

"Aww, looks like you got to him first." Naruto turned to find the source of the voice. It was one of the Iwa shinobi from earlier that day. Naruto couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the interruption.

Following the Iwa shinobi was the rest of his team and Rin. "They helped me with the Shimo genin." Was her explanation to their presence.

"Glad to be of service." Said the one they assumed to be the leader. "I'm Kouta. The red head back there is Tomatsu and the one that threatened you is Daisuke."

"Sorry about that, by the way." The one called Daisuke apologized.

Naruto accepted the apology and gave him name. Behind him Obito still hadn't said a word. Rin walked over and nudged him. Obito's shook his head slightly before offering his name as well. "I thought you were headed to attack us, why did you help us?" Obito asked.

Tomatsu shrugged his shoulders. "We heard the Shimo shinobi had the Earth scroll. We were heading towards them when they attacked you. Beating them just fell in line with helping you."

"We still have a ways to go before we reach the middle of the forest, so we should probably get moving. I for one don't want to be sleeping here when these guys wake up." Kouta used his foot to nudge the unconscious shinobi.

"Are we splitting up or staying together?" Naruto asked. He trusted the group and with them both already having two scrolls it made sense for them to stick together to increase their chances of beating other genin teams that came along.

Kouta looked at both of his teammates. "What do you think?" Daisuke and Tomatsu nodded slightly. "Okay, then, we're sticking together."

They traveled five miles before deciding to set up camp for the night. Without having tents or mats to sleep on, it only took minutes for everything to be set up.

Naruto was thankful for the amount of people they had, mostly because it meant shorter guard shifts. Daisuke volunteered for the first shift, followed by Rin, himself, and Kouta. When Naruto's shift came he was thankful that Obito was sleeping. He still hadn't come up with an explanation for what happened. What could he possibly say to explain that he was able to perform fire jutsu? Why would Obito believe anything he said anyway? He had been found unconscious on the outskirts of Konoha and then had claimed to be a genin capable of only water jutsu. Anything he said would be perceived as a lie, which it would be.

oOoOo

They had probably been in the forest for thirty hours when they finally reached the building in the center of the forest. Entering it, Obito was surprised to see that they were the first team there. He had wanted to be the first, but he honestly didn't think his team would be strong enough.

"Look at that!" Rin was pointing to a message on the wall.

"What does it say?" Obito asked.

Kouta took a step forward to read it more carefully. "I think it's telling us to open the Heaven and Earth scrolls."

"At the beginning we were told not to open the scrolls. What if you're wrong?" Rin asked.

"I assume we fail." Kouta pulled the Earth scroll from his pouch. "My team will open ours first." Daisuke and Tomatsu looked unsettled by Kouta's decision, but they nodded and went along with it. A puff of smoke filled the air as the Iwa tean opened both their scrolls. A Konoha chuunin appeared before them.

"You have passed the second part of the chuunin exams." The chuunin told them. Obito thought he recognized him as one of the academy's teachers.

"I'm sure you noticed the message on the wall. I am here to explain that to you. This is the motto of the chuunin, which was written by the Sandaime. Heaven refers to the human mind, while earth refers to the human body. It says that if you lack 'Earth' or physical strength, then you should improve it by training harder. And if you lack wisdom or 'Heaven', you should find ways to grow your knowledge. If you have both 'Heaven' and 'Earth' then missions and other tasks should become easy for you." The chuunin started forming hand seals. "You will be staying here until the timeline for the exam is over." The chuunin finished his hand seals and disappeared with a _pop._

"Might as well open ours now." Naruto said. Naruto and Rin rolled open the scrolls and waited for the chuunin to appear.

The shinobi stared at them for a second before speaking. "You just overheard what Keiji-kun said to the team over there and it would be too troublesome to repeat it." With that the chuunin disappeared.

Obito heard Naruto chuckle behind him. It was that sound that brought Obito's focus back to what he had witnessed the previous night. Naruto had used a fire jutsu. And it had been powerful. He didn't know what to think, except to point out the obvious. Naruto had lied. First, he claimed to have water as his main element, when his fire jutsu was clearly stronger. Second, he said he was a genin and no genin Obito knew had the ability to use two elements. And third, Naruto was clearly stronger than he had previously let on.

Obito held back a groan, knowing everyone in the room would be able to hear him. He looked over at Naruto, studying him. He liked Naruto. He had seemed like the first person to ever understand that there were things underneath the underneath, especially in relation to Obito. But he had lied to them, been deceiving them from the start. And why would he lie unless he had something to hide? And why would he hide something if he was on their side? It would be best if he figured out what Naruto was up to before they got out of the forest. Once they got out of the forest who knew what Naruto would do.

oOoOo

Naruto could feel Obito's gaze on him, studying him. At that moment his biggest fear was that Obito would question him in front of everyone. Obito didn't speak, but his glaring continued. Naruto needed to get them out of that room before anyone else began to suspect anything was wrong. With the way Obito was glaring at him it wouldn't take long.

"I'm going to see if there are any other rooms in here or if we're expected to sleep right here." Naruto said before he turned and walked to the entrance to the next room.

He heard the shuffling of feet behind him. Then Obito said, "I'll go with him."

Naruto didn't turn around to look at Obito, or acknowledge him in any way. He kept walking straight, the sound of footsteps behind him being the only sign that Obito was still following him. The building from his time and this one were the same, so Naruto made his way to the stairs, knowing they would get the most privacy upstairs. Their journey took a total of five minutes, but in that five minutes no one spoke. When Naruto finally settled on a room he felt comfortable in, he made his way over to the windowsill and sat on it. Finally, he looked at Obito.

Obito launched his question without giving Naruto time to prepare. "What in the world happened back there? You said you could only use water jutsu and I know that was a fire jutsu you just performed." He was whispering.

"If I had been perceived as dangerous do you think the Hokage would have let me stay in Konoha?" He followed Obito's example and whispered.

"I don't believe you." Obito's voice had gone cold. Naruto was surprised at the seriousness Obito displayed now. It wasn't the fact the Obito could be serious that surprised him, but the manner in which he was. Obito had grown cold and deadly, all because he knew that someone had lied to him and was a threat to his home. Naruto admired Obito's loyalty to Konoha, but he would've admired it more had it not been directed at him.

"I'm not an enemy!" If Obito exposed him then he didn't know what he would do. He still didn't know how he was sent to the past, much less how to get out of it. If he was forced out of Konoha he would have to roam through countries involved in war. No one would think twice about killing him and he would have no choice but to return the favor. His wandering would only lead to more deaths.

"Tell me why I should believe you when you've already lied twice." Obito's voice was hard, but there was no emotion behind it. Obito would grow to become a fearsome shinobi.

Faced with the prospect of being cast out of Konoha, or worse killed, Naruto opened his mouth, and for the first time since going to the past, he told the full truth. "I'm from the future."

Obito's hard exterior broke enough for Naruto to see the bewildered expression on his face. "What? Do you really think I'm going to believe that?"

Now that he had said it, he had to make Obito believe him. "It's the truth. Ask me something only someone from the future would know."

Obito continued to have a look that clearly said _this guy is crazy_, but he seemed to be racking he mind for a question. "I'm going to ask more than one. First, who become the fourth Hokage?"

Naruto figured this would be the first question. In Konoha, Minato was already making a name for himself, but not in outside countries. "Namikaze Minato."

Obito nodded in acknowledgement of his answer, but went straight to his second question. "Who is the future leader of the Uchiha clan?"

"Uchiha Fugaku." Naruto answered without hesitation. "How do you know I'm not just guessing with my answers?"

Obito's eyes widened. "I know who Fugaku is because I'm related to him, but there's no way that someone outside of the village would know who he was, or that he was being considered for the role of village leader." Obito drew in a sharp breath. "Wow, the future. How'd you get here?"

Naruto shook his head. "I have no idea. One minute I was trying to stop a comet, the next I was waking up here." He turned to leave. "Come on, the others are waiting."

"Ha! Do you really think you can tell me you are from the future and then be done with it? What's the future like?" Obito asked eagerly.

Naruto shrugged, it wouldn't hurt if Obito knew a little about his life seeing that their paths had never crossed. "All the nations are living together in peace. It took a while, but there are no longer any wars going on. Konoha is prospering. The village was almost destroyed once, but the attacker was stopped and the village rebuilt."

"That sounds nice. It'll give me a little more motivation when fighting to know that eventually the fighting will be over." Obito had a faint smile on his face. "Now, tell me about yourself. I want to know who you are without any lies. Why did you say you were a genin? Why not chuunin, then you would've been able to avoid this test."

"That was actually the truth. I never managed to beat the chuunin exams. The only time I ever took it, it ended up being interrupted by an ambush. One of my friends was the only person in the entire exam that got promoted, and that was only because he was a genius." Here Naruto paused. He didn't mind sharing his past with Obito, as he knew Obito's was similar to his own, but he didn't want to mention Kyuubi. "My childhood was kinda like yours. I was different, so people treated me badly. Most didn't want me to become a shinobi, but the Hokage overruled them. My first C-rank mission ended up being turned into an A-rank when a terrorist showed up to kill our client. Kakashi-sensei beat him, but then the terrorist Zabuza showed up again. This time he had his apprentice Haku with him. Haku died to save Zabuza, and then Zabuza died avenging Haku. It was a tragedy and on that day, I swore to protect my precious people and to not let anyone take advantage of another person."

"Wait! Kakashi-sensei?" Obito asked incredulously.

Naruto chuckled. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that Kakashi is my sensei. I can't wait to get back to my time and use what I've seen against him."

Obito snickered. "I hope you embarrass him good. Anyway, you left your story off at the end of your first C-rank. What happened next?"

"We returned to the village just in time for the chuunin exams. We were still rookies, but Kakashi-sensei nominated us to take it." Here Naruto chuckled again. "The first exam was the hardest for me. When I was younger, I spent all my time practicing with my body, not my mind, so when the first test came, I froze. The test was basically the same as the one we just took, except for the tenth question. We were told to wait until the end to answer the tenth question. Right before it, the proctor told us that if we got the tenth question wrong, we would fail and never be able to become shinobi. He gave everyone a chance to leave, which a lot took. I almost did myself, but I decided that I wouldn't give up. See at that time my dream was to become Hokage. Most people laughed, but I was determined I could and would do it. So I waited for the tenth question to come. Then the proctor told the remaining shinobi that we had all passed. There was no tenth question; he had been testing our resolve to become shinobi no matter what.

"The second exam was easier for me since it was physical. We took the exams in Konoha, so it was in the Forest of Death. An enemy of Konoha had snuck into the forest and we ended up having to fight him. He was a lot stronger than us, but somehow we made it through. It took us five days to reach the tower, but we did. Because so many passed the second exam, we had a semifinal round before the third exam. I passed that. My opponent for the third exam was a Hyuuga, and everyone was convinced I would lose. For most of the match it appeared I would, but towards the end of the match, I found a new determination and I managed to beat him. Then in a later match we were ambushed and the exams were canceled. I traveling for a little with a friend, so I missed a handful of opportunities there, then when I got back, I was prepared to take them, but a mission came up and I was out of the village for that one too."

Obito was staring at him, wide eyed. "What else?"

Naruto shook his head. "We've been gone for too long, the others are probably wondering where we are."

Obito reluctantly agreed to rejoin the rest of their group. On the way back, something seemed to dawn on him. "Wait, you said your dream 'used' to be becoming Hokage. Why isn't it anymore?"

Naruto didn't answer immediately, instead smiling to himself. It was only when they were almost to the room where their friends were that he answered. "Because I already achieved it."

Obito's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to ask further questions, but it was too late, they were within earshot of the other genin.

"Did you find anything?" Tomatsu asked when they entered the room.

"There are other rooms, but this one will do just fine as sleeping quarters."

Daisuke sat down on the floor. "It's going to be an uncomfortable few days.

Everyone agreed. They passed the next few days by practicing with each other, playing games, or just talking. Naruto smiled at the friendship that was forming between the Iwa genin and his teammates. For so long when looking at Iwa or Konoha, the genin had only seen enemies. Now they were getting the chance to see that the people they viewed as enemies were just as human as they themselves. How a friendship like this would last past the chuunin exams, he didn't know, but he did know neither team would ever forget that they had once befriended the enemy. Intentional or not, the chuunin exams had given them an opportunity to see their enemy for what they were, shinobi, some young and some old, who were determined to win for their country. They were the same.

A few times over the course of the days, Naruto had caught Obito looking over at him. He knew Obito wanted to ask more questions about the future, but it wouldn't be smart to discuss it again. Two more teams had showed up, and one of them was constantly wandering around. Naruto was surprised at the light number, but then he figured most of the countries were probably desperate for chuunin right now and were sending every genin they could, meaning the skill level was down. At least now they wouldn't have to worry about a semifinal round.

**A/N: I just want to warm you and say that it'll be at least a week before the next chapter is up. I am leaving town and won't have the chance to write anything until at least Monday. Also, thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I was shocked by the number of reviews I received for the last chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. This was one of the few chapter I had already planned out, but then it didn't even turn out how I wanted it to. **

**Thank you for reading, and please take a few seconds to review. **


	13. Chapter 13

He would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised. Minato hadn't expected his team to actually be one of the few teams that made it through the second exam. It wasn't that he doubted their teamwork, but they had only been working together for a couple weeks. Plus two of his students had arm injuries. It hadn't seemed likely that the three of them would be able to beat the other teams.

They had passed the team portions of the exams, the next part would be the finals: a series of one-on-one battles. They would have a month to prepare, which would give Obito's injury enough time to heal. Naruto's was a different story.

Minato frowned at the thought of Naruto. He hadn't spoken with the boy since his own conversation with the Hokage. Though he knew questioning Naruto was important, he didn't want to do it. Something about the kid made him dread the thought of suspecting him or being accusing him of anything. He seemed to genuinely care about Konoha. But then, there lied part of the problem. Naruto cared about Konoha, but then he'd not even been there a month. Was it possible to become so dedicated to your village in such a short time? And then there was the fact that Naruto came just a few weeks before the chuunin exams started, and he was found by a team that would benefit the most from having a fourth member. As much as Minato didn't want to question him, there were things that just didn't line up.

Clearing his mind of those thoughts, Minato turned his focus to his surroundings. He was at Ichiraku's, waiting for his team to show up. Apart from a brief meeting right after the second exam, this would be the first time he saw his team since they started the exams. He was sure they would have a lot to tell him, especially Obito.

He heard shuffling behind him and turned to see Kakashi approaching. Kakashi didn't say anything, but quietly slipped into the stool next to him. Though Minato understood him more than most, parts of the shinobi were still a mystery. Kakashi was so young, yet he carried himself like a well-seasoned veteran. There had been a few times when Minato had thought Kakashi was on the brink of acting his age, but then in a second his mask was back up and his face was stoic.

"RAMEN! RAMEN! RAMEN!" Naruto and Obito's chorus could be heard a mile away. Minato could only shake his head at their childish antics. If there was anyone who should act their own age, it was Naruto. He was nineteen, but he acted more like a ten year old. It really was no surprise that he was still a genin. The boy lacked the one thing that would push him further: a goal.

"A good shinobi doesn't announce his position for the whole village to hear." Kakashi scolded them once they were within earshot.

Obito shook his head disparagingly, while Naruto said, "Alas, he doesn't understand the goodness that is ramen. Just the mention of the glorious food can end wars."

"Now you're sounding like Gai-kun." Rin frowned as she met them at the ramen stand.

Now was a good a time as any to break up what could become an argument. "Tell me about the exams."

At once, Rin, Obito, and Naruto started telling him about the events of the past few days. They continued to talk even after they began on their ramen. Between the three of them he was able to figure out that the first exam had been a breeze, while the second one was a little harder. "We were actually saved by the team sent from Iwa." Rin was saying. "The three of us were separated and two went after me and one after Obito. The Iwa shinobi came to my help first, because they didn't see where Obito had gone. Once the first two were taken care of, the four of us tracked down Obito. Naruto had already found him and the shinobi that had gone after Obito was unconscious."

"How did you two beat the shinobi when neither of you have been able to use jutsu's?" Minato asked. They must've had great teamwork if they had been able to beat someone in their condition.

Obito cast a quick glance at Naruto before answering. "We aren't weak, Sensei. The guy was a good ninjutsu user, but a terrible taijutsu user. I managed to distract him by using some of the simpler fire techniques I know, while Naruto ambushed him and fought using taijutsu."

"Good work." Looking up at the sky, he realized they had been there for an hour already. "I need to get going. There are a few things I have to give the Hokage." He didn't want to do it now, but it seemed to be as good a time as any. "Naruto, I'd like to have a word with you, can you come with me?"

Naruto looked confused, but he nodded and came without saying anything. Minato took a longer, more secluded route, allowing the two of them more privacy for their talk. Once they were a good distance away from Ichiraku's, Minato started his questioning. "How was your arm during the exams?"

Naruto looked down at his arm before he glanced at Minato. "I tried to use a water jutsu once, but the pain came and the jutsu didn't work properly."

Minato nodded. "From what Rin told me, it is a strange injury. How did you come by it?"

Naruto countenance changed in a second. His eyes narrowed and his face darkened. Then as quickly as the mood change came, it left. Naruto went back to looking like his usual self. Still, those few seconds meant something: Naruto was indeed hiding something. Whether it was dangerous to Konoha was yet to be seen, but that expression had confirmed the Sandaime's suspicion that there was more to Naruto than meets the eye. After several minutes of silence, Naruto surprised Minato by finally answering his question. "Several years ago I was trying to help a friend out. He wouldn't acknowledge that he needed me, but I tried to help anyway. Things got out of control and I attempted to use a powerful jutsu. It didn't end well for either of us."

At a quick glance, Naruto's expression was still that of his usual self. But as Minato looked closer he could see that the lines of Naruto's lips were tighter, and his eyes seemed to be darker than normal. While he couldn't say if Naruto was telling the truth about the injury, it was evident that Naruto didn't want to think about what happened the day he got that injury. Something big had happened to him that was for sure.

At least Naruto's story of trying a powerful jutsu and failing at it made sense. Minato had hoped that would be the case. Hopefully the Hokage would trust his judgment in that Naruto meant them no harm.

oOoOo

He and Minato had gone their separate ways as soon as they reached the base of the Hokage Mountain. Naruto had known that eventually they would start asking him about himself, so he had been prepared when Minato asked him to join him on his walk.

**Not prepared enough.**

_Shut up, Kyuubi. _

**Your expression couldn't have given more away.**

_It only showed for a second. A normal shinobi wouldn't have noticed._

**Yondaime isn't a normal shinobi: he's one of the greatest shinobi that has ever lived. He even managed to seal me inside of you.**

_How kind of him._

Kyuubi growled. **As I was saying, you practically told him you were hiding something when you reacted to what he said about your arm.**

_It's a little hard to act normal when talking about your greatest regret! _

**You didn't react that way when they first examined your arm.**

_I was more prepared to answer questions then, so I was better able to come up with excuses._

**So you admit that you weren't prepared enough.**

_Shut up, Kyuubi._

Naruto made his way back to the room he was staying in. After locking the door behind him, he sat on the edge of his bed. He needed to sort through everything and make sure none of his lies contradicted one another. So far he had been able to avoid telling them much about himself. He claimed to have left his village, wandered for several years alone, heard about Konoha from a passerby, and possibly have a kekkei genkei. Keeping up with his lies was difficult especially when asked personal questions.

Lying down on the bed, Naruto allowed himself to rest. It felt like the first time in weeks, though it had only been days. Sleep came quickly.

_He tried to watch where he was stepping, but there were so many bodies littering the ground that it didn't matter. The once green grass had already been stained red. Up ahead he heard laughter. The sound was chilling in its ruthlessness. Whoever was laughing seemed to have already lost touch with sanity. Deciding that the laughing man had to have some part in this massacre, he headed in the direction of the sound. The closer he got, the harder it was to follow. As he entered the forest, bodies strewn across the floor and some hanging from the branches, the sound seemed to echo through every path. He continued to walk in what he hoped was the right direction. The laughing grew louder._

_He tripped and fell over a body. Looking down, he recognized the women as a nurse he had seen earlier that day. His stomach tightened at the death surrounding him. Ahead of him, the laughing continued. Now there was a hint of familiarity to it. Each step became heavier as he grew closer to the clearing he knew was in front of him. A drop of sweat hit the ground, joining the river of blood that had already begun to flow. The clearing was right in front of him now, the laughter a constant mocking, taunting him to come closer. To see who it was behind the sound. With a finality that only come when surrounded by death, he stepped into the opening. His heart shattered as he saw the man responsible for the laughter._

_The man across from him stopped laughing, a smirk forming on his face. "So this is where we meet again."_

Naruto woke with a start. Panting, he tried to stop his body from shaking. It had been a year since he had last had that dream. Memory. Climbing out of bed, he made his way to the bathroom. Images from the dream where still playing through his head. It was a half hour later before he felt he could venture from the bathroom without having to run back in, but at that time he was too tired to move. Lying down on the bathroom floor he curled up to keep warm. His clothes were sticking to his body, wet with sweat. He fought the urge to fall asleep again. The only thing waiting for him behind closed eyes was more death.

**Sleep.**

_Even if I do sleep, it wouldn't be rest._

**Sleep. I will guard your mind.**

oOoOo

Obito felt his impatience grow. Naruto had said he would meet him at the training field at nine, and it was now ten. Nevermind that he himself had only showed up three minutes ago. He waited another ten minutes before he saw Naruto making his way over. Even from a distance, Obito could see that something was off with Naruto. His movements were slow, dreary even. As he got closer, Obito saw that his eyes had dark rings under them. "Are you okay?"

Naruto studied him for a second. "I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep last night."

He wanted to ask more, but that would be breaking there pact. Though neither had even mentioned it, they both knew the other could see through their mask. It had become an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't dig for more details, but instead play along. It was easier to keep up their charades this way.

"It's still a little early to start, but in about a week, I'll start helping you with fire jutsu's." Naruto sat down and leaned against one of the training poles. "I assume you asked to meet up today because you had more questions."

"Of course I have more questions! First you go off and tell me that you're from the future. Then you confess that you're the HOKAGE! Do you know how hard it's been not to ask questions?" Seriously, was the guy an idiot or something?

Naruto started laughing. "What?" Obito demanded.

Naruto was still grinning, which was an improvement over his earlier expression. "You sound like I did at that age."

Obito's eyes widened. In the past when someone had said something about the way he acted it had always been negative. Now here was a Hokage telling him that he reminded him of himself. "If you acted like I do, then how did you become Hokage?" Something dawned on Obito. Naruto and Minato looked so much alike, they could be siblings. Or father and son, since Naruto was from the future. "Growing up must've been so cool! You would've had the best shinobi ever as your father!"

Naruto's eyes showed sadness, but he still smiled. "I see you connected the dots on who my father is."

"It must be so cool to have Minato-sensei as your father. Sometimes I like to think of him as a father, but for him to actually be yours? That is so cool." Minato was such a nice person; he must've been a good father to Naruto. "Can you please tell me a story about when you were a child?"

Naruto thought for a minute. He stretched his legs out in front of him as he began. "While I was still in the academy, I was a little attention crazy. One day I decided to skip class and paint the Hokage faces up on the mountain. I messed them up pretty badly. The funny thing is, I was able to outsmart most of the chuunin chasing me. It was my academy instructor, Iruka-sensei, who found me and dragged me to my classroom. Afterwards I was forced to scrape the paint off all of the faces."

"Haha, I've never done anything as bad as graffiti. I bet people where pretty upset that you did that."

"Yeah, the villagers didn't take too kindly to me for a while." Naruto watched the clouds in the sky. "Tell me something crazy that you've done."

That was hard. Most often the things that people assumed he did fun were things he did to fight depression. If he could brighten one other persons day then his own would have no choice but to be better. "Last year at one of the Uchiha festivals, the clan leader was giving a speech. Earlier that day I had filled balloons with pink powder and had hidden on top of one of the roofs, as the leader was giving his speech I threw the balloons on him. He ended up being covered in bright pink powder. He had been so outraged at the 'disgrace' that he became a sputtering mess. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard." What he left out was that the clan leader had called his daughter a useless waste of space. The child had needed something to lift her spirit, plus the man had deserved the humiliation.

"That actually sounds worse than painting the Hokage Mountain."

Obito shrugged. "What's Konoha like in your time?"

"Not much different, actually. We're no longer at war, so times are more peaceful, but not much else has changed. Things look a little different now, but there hasn't really been much improvement in everyday life. For years things had been focused on the war, so only just now is focus being put back on home life improvements."

"That's stinks. I was hoping there would be something cool, like a way to talk to people at a distance without having to use letter."

"There is, it's called yelling." Naruto grinned as Obito shoved him. "There are a few shinobi who have been able to use their minds to communicate with others. It's not a kekkei genkei, so everyone could learn it, but it's highly difficult to use."

"Can you use it?"

"Yes, but it took me a while to master it."

"How long is a while?"

Naruto seemed to think about it. "About five months." Obito's jaw dropped open. Naruto had just said it was a difficult technique, yet he had learned it in just five months. "I wasn't joking when I told Minato I was a fast learner. I'll let you in on my secret. Kakashi-sensei thought of a way for me to practice things at a much faster pace than that of a normal person."

"What?" It couldn't be that cool if Kakashi had thought of it.

"I can use Kage-Bunshin. I have a lot of chakra so I can create a lot of clones. I retain whatever a clone of me has done, so if I have clones working on the techniques, I get them a lot faster than a normal person would."

Obito had heard of Kage-Bunshin, but he had never seen it. From what he had heard, the technique was difficult to use and maintain. Most people who could use it could only create three or four clones, and even then the clones and original would be weak. To be able to practice new techniques with a Kage-Bunshin should be impossible. "You must have a lot more chakra than most people."

Naruto nodded. "I do. My master always told me that while I lacked control, I had great stamina…Or maybe it was the other way around?"

oOoOo

Minato was on his way back to his house when a scream stopped him. It was a woman and the noise came from the bathhouse. Dread filled him. Running in the direction of the bathhouse, Minato knew what he would find. Sure enough, lying on his back, a stream of blood flowing from his nose, lay the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya.

**A/N: I didn't expect it to take this long to update, nor did I expect to write everything in one night. I started this chapter at 10:00 P.M. and it is now 1:10 A.M. I'm just waiting for sleep to catch up with me. This chapter came together easily, and I think it has a great flow to it. For once I am satisfied with a full chapter. Or that could just be the lack of sleep thinking. And in case anyone misunderstood what Naruto meant by "or maybe it was the other way around?" he means that Jiraiya said that he had great stamina, but terrible control. He was emphasizing the negative while Naruto emphasized the positive. **

**It will probably be another two weeks before I update again because of Thanksgiving. We have company coming on Wednesday and staying for several days, then I also work at a Chick-fil-A in the mall on Black Friday. 6:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. Pray for me.**

**Just wanted to give an update on the college application I sent in. I called today to check and make sure nothing is missing, and the women told me that there were just two more things I needed to send and that I could fax them over. We weren't able to fax them today, but can tomorrow. She said she might be able to give me a decision as soon as those are in.**

**Thank you for reading this story and also this overly long Author's Note. Please take a few seconds to review.**

**P.S. I changed the title because I felt it fits the story better than the previous title. As I've mentioned before, this story has changed a lot from my original view, so I am having to amend some things as I go along.**


	14. Chapter 14

"Could you at least try to act more mature?" Minato questioned for the third time.

"I was merely attempting to do some research. I need to keep my abilities sharp, or else I might lose them.." Jiraiya defended, though he still sounded proud of work.

"That would be a favor to everyone." Minato scoffed.

After Minato had found Jiraiya at the bathhouse he had taken the battered man back to his own house. The entire way Jiraiya had complained that he hadn't done anything wrong, which Minato found laughable. Sometimes he wished Tsunade was back in the village, just so she could punish Jiraiya.

Minato looked at Jiraiya again. In a few seconds the man had become serious. "How is your team?"

"Obito currently has an injured arm, Kakashi is as cold as ever, and Rin is feeling a lot of pressure to keep her team together, then you add that Hokage-sama gave me a fourth student, and it adds up to me being stressed." What was really causing his stress was trying to figure Naruto out.

"Sensei told me about the addition to your team. He said he did it because he thought you would be the best team to keep an eye out for him."

Jiraiya already knew about Naruto. At least that would keep him from having to explain everything. "He acts weak and mature, but there are times when I catch his eye and he seems so _knowing_, like he knows what's going to happen and he's content with that."

Jiraiya sat down on the couch. "Sensei also told me that he doesn't believe the kid has been fully honest with any of us. He said that while nothing can be proven as a lie, he believes it is. Do you?"

Minato had to think. Previously everything the boy had said had been flippant, like he had no personal investment in it. There was nothing they could contradict, but at the same time, what was the likelihood of a young shinobi meeting up with a Konoha shinobi, hearing about Konoha, and then deciding to travel there? They were in a war, why would two shinobi's from different villages talk about their homes? Right now they were at a 'fight first, question later' time. But then there was yesterday. When he had asked Naruto about his arm, he hadn't expected an answer. Naruto's entire countenance had changed for a few seconds, before he said that his arm had been injured in an attempt to help a friend. From his expression to his tone, Minato knew that even if everything else the boy had said was a lie, this was true.

"I believe he has lied to us about several things, but I don't believe his intentions are to harm us. He's had quite a few opportunities already, yet he hasn't taken one."

Jiraiya gave him a small smile. "Make sure you do not believe what you want to believe because you like the kid. Often times in a shinobi's life they have to put personal feelings aside."

"I know that." Minato said indignantly.

"I know, but it never hurts to remind you. Besides, knowing something is easy. It's when you have to make choices in order to live it out that things become difficult." Jiraiya jumped up from the couch. "So where's this kid that is causing so much conflict?"

"I believe he is with Obito at the training fields. Naruto is injured as well, so they both mentioned wanting to improve their taijutsu."

Jiraiya looked at him in confusion. "You said Naruto?"

Minato nodded as he made for the door; unlike most shinobi he preferred a door to a window. "Yeah, it's a strange name, that's for sure."

"Did you know that main character in the book I'm writing is named Naruto?" Jiraiya still looked confused.

Minato shook his head. "Strange coincidence."

Jiraiya sighed. "I thought I had made the name up, but it seems I might have heard it during my travels. And I was planning on making it so I would profit from anyone using the name in the future."

Minato chuckled. "Like anyone would name their son Naruto."

oOoOo

Naruto felt a bead of sweat run down his face. For the past thirty minutes straight, he and Obito had been working on their taijutsu. While his own was in pretty good shape, Obito's still needed a bit of improvement. Obito's biggest problem was that he ran out of breath too quickly. In a real fight, he wouldn't have time to catch his breath, so Naruto had decided that was how this practice would go as well. He lunged toward Obito with what looked to be a jab. Two feet away from hitting Obito, he turned and used his left hand to rotate his body and send a kick toward Obito's abdomen. It was a fairly easy move to block, but Obito's tiredness caused him to move too slowly. The kick connected with his abdomen, sending him to the ground.

Naruto waited to see if Obito would get up, but after a minute he realized Obito was no longer able to move. He collapsed down onto the ground next to Obito. "I'm so pathetic." Obito whined.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. Obito shot him a glare. "I'm not laughing at you, Obito, just your statement. Thirty minutes of nonstop taijutsu is a lot. Using jutsu spaces things out and gives you time to breathe, unlike what we just did. There is only one genin I can think of that could do it."

Obito looked over at him. "Yourself?"

Naruto laughed again. "No, not myself, though I guess I am still a genin. No, I meant a friend of mine. For some reason he wasn't able to do ninjutsu or genjutsu, so he had to rely solely on taijustu. Because of how dangerous it is to only have one of the jutsus, he worked hard to make himself the best taijutsu user. No matter what the weather was or even where he was, he always took the time to work on his taijutsu, and it paid off. He even managed to beat an Uchiha with it once."

Obito's eyes widened. "Wow. And that's all because he trained hard?"

Naruto nodded. "Just because you're not talented in one area doesn't mean that you can't work hard to become good at it. But know that there are some things that a body won't do. My friend tried ninjutsu and genjutsu, but he didn't have the ability to perform them, so he improved on what he knew he could."

Obito was quiet for a minute. Naruto could see that he was thinking over what he had just said. When he did speak, he sounded confused. "So you're saying: practice hard to improve on something, but don't be discouraged when you don't get it?"

Naruto nodded, basically. "Basically. Like me and Bunshin. At first I thought it was just my lack of chakra control that was preventing me from using them, but even when my chakra control was at its best, I still couldn't make a simple Bunshin."

Obito seemed confused at his use of past tense, until his gaze fell on Naruto's arm. Looking back up towards the clouds Obito seemed to be contemplating something. After a full minute of silence, Obito voiced his question, hesitantly. "What happened to your arm?"

Naruto had been expecting the question, so it didn't startle him like Minato's questioning did. Yesterday he had surprised himself by giving an answer, even if it was a cryptic one. He didn't want to have to talk about it again. Even now he was dreading the nightmare that he was sure was awaiting him behind closed eyes. Telling Minato had been one thing, the man was his father even if he didn't know it. Even in his own time he had told only Kakashi and Tsunade. Naruto sat up and looked down at Obito. Obito knew he was from the future and he would ask more questions than Minato had. If he started asking the right questions about what happened, there was a chance Obito would stumble upon the truth. And though it seemed irrational, Naruto couldn't help thinking Obito would hate him if he found out the truth.

"Obito, Naruto-kun, can you spare a minute?" Minato's voice called out. Naruto couldn't help the relief that spread through him at Minato's timely interruption.

"Can they spare a minute? From the looks of their lounging around, they have all the time in the world." A second voice said. Naruto felt his heart speed up. Even after three years, he would know that voice anywhere. Jiraiya. Naruto stood up, followed by Obito. Sure enough next to Minato was the super pervert, Jiraiya.

Jiraiya paused next to Minato. "You didn't mention that he looks like you." Jiraiya said the Minato.

Minato chuckled. "I thought the Sandaime would've mentioned it. It is a little strange. Naruto, this is my sensei, Jiraiya."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but found himself unable to. There had been so many times when he had wished Jiraiya back from the dead, and now here he was, standing in front of him. He pushed down the desire to fill Jiraiya in on the past three years. He was in the past and this Jiraiya didn't know him. Looking at Jiraiya was the same as the Sandaime. Both looked much younger than they had ever looked in his own time.

"Look at that. He's so impressed by the great Jiraiya that he can't even speak." Jiraiya proclaimed loudly.

Unsure of what to say, Naruto decided to stick with acting like a starstruck fan. At least for now. "It's a pleasure to meet to Jiraiya-sama," that about killed him, "I've heard about you on my travels."

Jiraiya looked smug at his words. "It's no surprise to me that my accomplishments are already legendary." There seemed to be a different air around him then Naruto remembered. He had spent enough time with Jiraiya to know his moods, and even his best mood had not been as genuinely happy as this one. For the first time, Naruto realized how much Minato's death aged Jiraiya. "Minato and Obito, could you please leave me and Naruto-kun alone for a few minutes? I'd like to ask him some questions."

_Great, more questions._

Minato agreed and motioned for Obito to follow him as he walked back in the direction of Konoha. "We'll meet you in town." Jiraiya called back to them as the neared the edge of the grounds.

Being alone with Jiraiya was almost painful. Memories of times he'd spent with Jiraiya were running through his head. At the end of the road of memories was the scene where Tsunade told him the Jiraiya was dead. He had never felt so hopeless and lost as he did then. In the four years they'd known each other the man had become family and losing him felt like a kunai had been stuck in his chest. Realizing that he would never get to insult the pervert again, never get to confide in him again, and never get to see the man again was one of the most crushing moments of his life. If it wasn't for Iruka and Shikamaru he didn't know where he'd be right now. With their help he had learned to accept Jiraiya's death and move on.

Now Jiraiya was standing before him with no knowledge of who he was.

"So you travel a lot?" Jiraiya leaned back again one of the training poles.

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. "I…I did." He inwardly scowled at his stuttering. Deciding to follow Jiraiya's lead, he leaned on the pole next to Jiraiya.

"Where are some of the places you've gone?" Jiraiya was testing him, seeing how deep his stories went. If there was one person who could figure out the truth based on his story, it was Jiraiya.

"Let's see…" Naruto pretended to be thinking. After he felt he had waited a good amount of time, he listed some of the villages he had traveled to with Jiraiya. "That isn't all of them, but I can't remember any of the other names."

"I've been to all of those places before. How did you like the temple in the Tsuchigumo village?" Jiraiya asked.

Was this a trick question? When Naruto had traveled there with Jiraiya there had been no temple, but there had been several ruins. Had there been a temple there in this time? Once again, Naruto chose the safe answer. "I don't recall there being a temple there, but I've been to so many villages, I could have them mixed up."

Jiraiya nodded, but remained quiet. Naruto could only figure he was thinking of his next question. "What village where you in when you met up with the Konoha shinobi?"

This was definitely a trick question. Whatever answer Naruto gave Jiraiya could go back and check records to see if there had been any shinobi in the village at that time. "About six months ago, I was in a small city on the outskirts of the Land of Earth. I can't recall the village name, but it was barely into the country." Hope fully that was vague enough that they wouldn't be able to find the lie.

"We are at war with Iwa, the Hidden Village in the Rocks." Jiraiya said. "Why would a Konoha shinobi take the time to brag about his hometown while in a war zone?"

"I still had my Getsu hitai-ate with me at that time, so he knew I wasn't an enemy. When I first entered the Land of Earth I was attacked by Iwa shinobi; the Konoha shinobi saved me. He was injured, so I stuck around to help him while he recovered. He was a proud man and often insisted that I leave him, but I felt I had a debt to repay. He never shared his name with me, but he had dark hair and strange eyes, if that helps."

"Sounds like either an Uchiha or a Hyuuga. Were his eyes white or red?"

"Red." Naruto answered.

"Then it was an Uchiha." Jiraiya straightened and took a step forward. "Thank you for answering my questions."

"Wait, you said the red eyes meant an Uchiha, but my teammate is an Uchiha and he doesn't have red eyes." Hopefully this made him seem more ignorant.

"It takes time to develop the red eyes." Was Jiraiya's answer. "Let's head back to the village before your sensei starts to wonder what I've done with you."

Not wanting to be left to his own thoughts, Naruto kept the conversation going. "How much longer do you think the war with Iwa is going to last?" He actually knew, but at least it wouldn't be quiet on the walk back. He didn't want to be left to his own thoughts.

Jiraiya sighed. "I don't know. I hope it won't last for much longer, but an end still seems so far off. If I could do anything to bring it to an end faster, I would." The next part Jiraiya mumbled under his breath. "If there was any way I could have done to prevent the war from happening, I would have done it."

Naruto froze in his steps before quickly resuming, hoping Jiraiya didn't notice. The entire time he had been here he had been content to spend time with Minato and his team, assuming he would eventually figure out a way home. He had thought it was just a random occurance that he had ended up in the past, but was it to change the future, or was he being tempted by fate? Though he didn't know as much on the war as he should have, he still knew what some of the deciding factors were. If he could speed up those occurrences then he could end the war faster. So many lives could be saved. But how would that affect the future? How much of what happens is reliant on the time when the war ends? What if Jiraiya hadn't met Nagato yet? By preventing that meeting he would stop the Akatsuki from forming, which sounded good at first, but at least Naruto knew they won that battle. Tobi would have found another way to gain the Bijuu, and maybe that other way would've been more dangerous.

No, it seemed like changing the past wouldn't be a good thing. But wasn't his presence alone changing the past. A far as he knew, Kakashi never had a teammate named Naruto. By telling them his name he ran the risk of Minato not naming his child that. Did Rin and Obito pass the chuunin exams the first time they took them? Though there was still room to fail there. By taking the chuunin exams and beating teams, had he taken someone's place that was supposed to be promoted?

**We have had no control over the circumstances we are in. Do not worry with things you cannot change.**

_Quit trying to sound so wise, Kyuubi. We might have already changed things. I can't believe this is the first time I'm thinking this situation all the way through. _

**We didn't send ourselves to the past, which means that we are not responsible for the changes our presence may make. **

_As much as I hate seeing the people around me die, I don't want to change the future. All of the hidden villages are finally at peace with one another; if we save one person from death then we could potentially be leading to another's death. And how do we know what is supposed to happen? If we see a person dying, how do we know if they are supposed to be saved or not? I don't know if I can watch someone die without doing anything to help them._

**That I know. You wouldn't even let Tobi die without giving him a chance for redemption. I say we just let everything play out. We live like we would if this was our own time. If someone needs our help, we help them. But at the same time we won't be doing things to purposefully change things.**

_That seems to be the best way to go. We do need to start looking into ways we can get back to our own time. If time is passing there the same as it is here, then they're going to have to elect a new Hokage, and I really don't want to lose the position I've worked so hard to achieve._

**You continue with appearances here, I will start looking into a way to return to our time.**

"We're here!" Jiraiya announced. Naruto was startled back into reality. He and Jiraiya were standing in front of a bathhouse.

"Are you here to peep on women?" Naruto exclaimed, like he had never heard of someone doing such a thing before.

Jiraiya scoffed. "I'm not peeping. I'm merely doing some research."

Naruto gaped at him. "Research for what?" Naruto immediately made a face like he regretting asking.

"I'm an author." Jiraiya stated proudly. "But my book didn't sell too well. I'm thinking of adding a certain romance aspect to the next novel."

Naruto pointed a finger at Jirayia. "You're a pervert!"

"He always has been." Minato's voice came from behind them. He was sitting on the roof of the building opposite the bathhouse. "I should've known this would be were you would go first. I told you earlier that the Hokage would want to see us, Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya's shoulders dropped. "And I was about to do some good research. It better be important." Jiraiya waved to Naruto. "See you later, kid."

Minato smiled at Naruto before he led Jiraiya toward the Hokage manor. Though neither said what the meeting was about, Naruto was pretty sure Jiraiya's questioning had something to do with it. He only hoped he passed without suspicion.

**A/N: Man, this chapter was hard to write. Not a lot happens, since the chapter is actually to set up future events, but there seemed to be so much that I needed to get in. It doesn't help that Jiraiya is an incredibly hard character to write. I can't write his perverted acts well at all. **

**And about Naruto finally realizing that he could change the future: if there was one person Naruto missed the most it would be Jiraiya. Everyone else Naruto had seen up until that point he could live knowing their future, because he already knew what it was like to live without them. He was content with the ways things were. When he saw Jiraiya he realized he could try to prevent his death, but in the end he realized that by preventing Jiraiya's death he could be causing someone else's.**

**P.S. The day after my last post I learned that I my college application was accepted. Figured I'd update everyone on that since I've mentioned it several times. I won't be starting until next fall, so don't worry about the story, I hope to be done with it by that point. **

**Well, thank you for reading and please take a few second to let me know how you liked it, good or bad.**


	15. Chapter 15

When Jiraiya and Minato arrived at the Sandaime's office, he was working on paperwork. Looking up, he waved them over. "I would have to say you have good timing. I was just planning on taking a break from all this paperwork."

"You requested to see us, Hokage-sama." Jiraiya smiled at Minato's formal statement. How he ended up with such a polite student, he would never know. Minato must have a heart of gold if he was able to survive spending years with Jiraiya without any tainting.

The Sandaime relaxed into his chair. "Yes, I would like to hear Jiraiya's assessment of Naruto, and I thought you should be present, Minato." The Sandaime turned his attention to Jiraiya. "What do you make of the boy?"

Jiraiya hadn't been looking forward to this. When the Sandaime told him he was going to be questioning a shinobi and evaluating him, he had been excited for the task. When he learned it was a student of Minato's, he'd been less than thrilled. Minato clearly thought the best of the boy, and Jiraiya didn't want to have to tell him his belief had been misplaced.

He had been shocked at how much the kid looked like Minato. His first thought had been that Minato had a sibling, but then he remembered that he had known Minato's parents and they would've never given up a child. His second thought was that the kid knew who he was. He had been traveling and helping in the war for a few years now, but his actions were far from legendary. It wasn't impossible for the kid to have heard of him, especially after what happened with Hanzo, but it still seemed unlikely.

Looking at Minato and his sensei's expectant faces, Jiraiya sighed. "While there is nothing the boy said that I can disprove, I don't trust him." Jiraiya kept his gaze from Minato, but he could still see his face from the corner of his eye. Minato looked like he had been punched in the gut. "I can't even tell you why it is I don't trust him, I just know he's lying about something, and it's big. I don't want to believe it's a danger to Konoha, but then, why else would he be keeping it from us?"

The Sandaime nodded before standing and walking around his desk so he could lean on the front of it. "You are very adept at gathering information, Jiraiya, so I trust your judgment. What do you propose we do with Naruto?"

"I think we should let things be for now." Jiraiya said. "As of now we don't know what the kid is planning. If we allow him to go on without knowing of our suspicion, there is a good chance he will unintentionally show us whatever it is he has up his sleeve."

The Sandaime thought on that for a moment. "Waiting things out is risky. There's a chance he will start to suspect our knowledge, and if he does, then he could lead us into a trap. However, confronting him now would be even riskier. While he would most definitely leave the village, I doubt it would be without bloodshed. He would also just make another plan and harm the village in another way. We can't afford to lose track of him."

"We can use one of my toads to keep an eye on him at all times."

"Why are you so sure that he is some deadly spy?" Minato asked. His voice startled Jiraiya, he had forgotten his student was in the room. Looking at the Sandaime and Jiraiya, Minato continued. "You said you don't believe he is telling the full truth, and I can believe that, but I can't believe that Naruto is somehow planning on harming the village. He's had plenty of time already, and all he has done is help his team. I'm not sure where he's from, but I can assure you that even if it is Iwa, he isn't a spy."

Jiraiya had known Minato would react badly. For some reason he was attached to the kid. "Even if his intentions aren't bad, we can't risk an unknown shinobi to live in our village during a war. We have to be cautious about who we let stay in our village. We can't put someone's feelings above the safety of the village."

Minato looked like he was about the say something, but the Hokage interrupted. "I'm afraid I agree with Jiraiya here, Minato-san. As Hokage, I need to put the villagers' safety above everything else. I will set an Anbu watch on him and give them until after the chuunin exams to find whatever it is that he is planning. If they can't find anything by then, I will have no choice but to ask him to leave the village. If they do find something, it will be their job to get rid of the problem. Naruto is lucky that the chuunin exams are taking place. Right now it would cause too much of an uproar if I were to kick one of the attendee's put of the village."

Minato nodded, but didn't say anything. Jiraiya knew he must be struggle with respecting the Hokage's word.

The Hokage continued. "I can see that this is hard on you, Minato-san, but it is for the best of the village. Seeing as you have become close with the boy, I have decided to give you a mission that will last until after the chuunin exams are over."

Minato's mouth fell open. "I still have to train my students for the final exam. When Obito recovers, he's going to need almost constant attention so he can return to the shape he was in before. And Rin needs someone to have the responsibility or else she is going to shoulder everything."

"I will have one of the Anbu go undercover and help your team while also keeping an eye on Naruto." The Sandaime turned back to his desk and began sorting through the paperwork. "Ah, here it is." He extended the file toward Minato, who took it begrudgingly. "I understand that you disagree with my decision, but as the Hokage, this is my call to make. I will never put one individual over the safety of the entire village."

Minato looked over the file quickly. "It's an undercover mission to Iwa."

The Sandaime sat down at his desk and nodded. "Yes. This will be a two-man cell only, with just you and Jiraiya operating it." Jiraiya had figured the Sandaime would send him along, if only to keep an eye on Minato. "You two are dismissed."

Minato curtly nodded before heading out the door. Once outside the building, Jiraiya grabbed Minato by the arm and pulled him to a stop. "I understand that you're attached to this boy, but Sensei's right, since his intentions are unknown he has to be treated like a suspect."

"How is that fair? If we had proof that he was lying, then I could understand this treatment, but we have nothing against him." Minato looked calm, but his voice gave away his anger.

"That's why we're doing this investigation. If nothing can be found against him, he will simply be asked to move on. He's been travelling for years, more won't hurt him."

"If nothing can be found against him then this investigation would be unwarranted."

"We are in a war, Minato. Everyone, both civilian and shinobi, must be treated like a suspect, at least until we can discern whether or not they really are. I _know _that Naruto is lying about something, I just don't know what." Minato yanked his arm from Jiraiya's grip. "I trust your judgment, Sensei, I'd be a fool not to, but I don't believe for a second that he has bad intentions." Minato started off in the direction of his home. "Be ready, our mission starts in the morning." Jiraiya felt like his already had.

oOoOo

Roughly throwing his weapons into his pouch, Minato prepared for his mission. He felt like he was being reprimanded by the Hokage. No matter what his personal opinions were, he would be loyal to the village, so why was the Sandaime sending him away? Did he really believe that he would go against the Hokage's orders?

"It's been a while since I've seen you so worked up." Minato paused what he was doing. Turning to look at the source of the voice he saw his fiance, Kushina. He sat on the bed in his room and motioned her over. She came and sat on his lap, and started rubbing his shoulders. "What's bothering you, Minato?"

He brushed her hair back. "I've been assigned a mission, which should last a month or so."

Kushina studied him for a bit, her hands still massaging his shoulders. "Missions hardly get you upset. What's wrong?"

Minato leaned back on the bed, pulling her down next to him. He intertwined their fingers before answering, "The new student I told you about is under suspicion from the Hokage. You know I can't give you details, but I'll say the best thing that could happen to him is getting kicked out of the village. I don't believe he is endangering anyone here, and I told the Hokage that. I think that's why he assigned me this mission, he knew I would disagree with him."

Kushina sighed, snuggling closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder. "I don't know the kid, but you seem to have a lot of faith in him." She placed a soft kiss on his collarbone. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Could you keep an eye on my team? The Sandaime is giving them a temporary leader, but maybe you could show up every now and then and help them out. I know Obito is going to need help once he regains use of his arm." Minato felt Kushina nod against him. "He pulled her closer and leaned over her. "Thank you." He said before leaning down and kisses her, softly at first, but quickly gaining passion. He broke away before things could get out of control.

Kushina smiled. "Stop by my house as soon as you get home, alright?" When he nodded his agreement, she gave him a quick kiss. "Goodbye, Minato."

"Goodbye, Kushina." He called after her as she left. He would miss her while he was gone. She had only been with him for a few minutes and she had successfully changed his mood, at least for a short while. He finished his preparations before making his way to Ichiraku's Ramen, where he knew the rest of his team would be. He would have to tell them that they were getting a temporary new leader, something Obito was sure to object to. Obito would probably rather no teacher than a new teacher. Most people took a little bit to get used to Obito's tendencies, which could make things difficult for him.

To his dread, the only person at the ramen store when he arrived was Naruto. He tried his best to act like nothing was wrong. On missions he could act pretty well, but at home with his friends, he was terrible at it. If Naruto noticed his act, he didn't say anything.

Kakashi and Rin both showed up within minutes of Minato's arrival. As a group they waited thirty minutes before deciding to start eating without Obito. They each ordered a bowl, or three in Naruto's case. Just as they were starting on the noodles a loud "WAIT!" could be heard from behind. Minato turned to see Obito running toward them. He was panting like he had been running for a while, though the Uchiha compound was only a few blocks away.

"Why were you late this time, Obito?" Rin asked, exasperated. Minato was surprised they still bothered to ask, the answer was always something ridiculous.

"I was training! My partner told me he was going to hide and I would have to find him using only my chakra, but then I couldn't find a trace of him!" Naruto snickered at that. Obito glared at him while continuing. "It took me forever to find out that my so called training partner had ditched me."

Minato glanced over at Naruto, who looked slightly amused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, you're here now." Minato said. "Get some ramen. I actually want to talk to all of you." He made sure Obito and Naruto especially were paying attention. "I have been assigned a mission that'll last me a month or two. I'll have to leave in the morning, so until I get back the Sandaime will have given you a temporary new teacher."

As expected. Obito shot to his feet. "What! A new teacher? The finals for the chuunin exams are only weeks away, and we're supposed to prepare for it with someone who doesn't even know our abilities? That's crazy!" Though the shouting was unnecessary, Minato agreed with Obito. Even a highly trained Anbu who read everything about his students wouldn't be able to know their quirks, or things they liked to improvise on.

"Sensei, why would the Hokage give you a mission when you're supposed to be helping us?" Rin asked quietly.

Minato only shrugged his shoulders. What answer could he give them? _Oh yeah, I'm leaving you because the Hokage thinks I'll put Naruto before the village. Speaking of which, Naruto is under suspicion for being an enemy spy._ That would go over well.

"Yeah, that is strange." Obito agreed with Rin.

"I don't think it's that unusual." Naruto spoke up. Minato tried to soak in every work he said, hoping that something would tell him what this kid was up to. "Isn't the point of becoming chuunin to get more independent? Chuunins can become squad leaders and such. Not having our usual sensei might be good for us in that we learn to think on our own." Looking at it that way made a little more sense, though Minato knew it wasn't the Sandaime's reason. At least this gave his students an answer.

oOoOo

This wasn't good. Whatever reason Minato had for taking the mission, Naruto was sure it had to do with him. Did Jiraiya not believe him earlier? It would be just like the old pervert to be suspicious of everything he said. He should've used his Sexy Jutsu on him.

"I asked Kushina if she could help you guys a few times while I'm gone." Minato was saying. Naruto felt his heart stop. He was going to meet his mother too? He knew a little bit about both of his parents from meeting them in his mind, but that wouldn't compare to getting the chance to meet both of them in reality.

**That depends on whether or not this is really reality.**

_I don't see what else it could be. We've already ruled out a genjutsu. Have you learned anything new?_

**No. I'll have to expand my search. I'll most likely have to separate my mind from yours so that I can reach further. It's probably good timing too.**

_Why would it be good timing?_

**In case you forgot, your mother is the current Kyuubi jinchuuriki. I don't know what would happen with the bijuu if two containers were to meet. **

_Of course I didn't forget. I didn't think it would have much effect since our presence doesn't seem to have done much._

**That we know of. We never know what is happening behind the scenes. It seems like Jiraiya didn't fully believe you, but we don't know the extent of his suspicion. **

_Right. So the best thing to do would be to continue the way we are now._

**Correct. I will check in if I find anything. And kid?**

_Yeah?_

**I won't be able sense what's happening to you when I disconnect our minds, so please try not to get into any trouble.**

_I never try. It's nice to know you care._

**Why did I get stuck with a brat?**

"Earth to Naruto." Naruto was startled by Obito waving his hand in front of his face.

Looking around, Naruto saw that he had attracted the attention of his teammates. "Sorry. I was just thinking about the chuunin exams." Lying here was becoming easier and easier.

"You'll all do great." Minato said as he stood up. "I'll see you when I get back. Please be careful."

"Psht, when am I not careful?" Obito questioned. Minato rolled his eyes.

Minato said goodbye to each of them before he headed off in the direction Naruto assumed his home was. Immediately after Minato was out of sight, Kakashi got up and started off. Watching Kakashi's retreating form, Naruto realized that he hadn't said a word the entire meal, even when Obito was late.

Naruto hurried after him, catching up right before Kakashi reached the entrance to a small row of houses. Each of the houses looked like they could only fit two bedrooms in them, but the small size worked for someone like Kakashi. "Why have you been so quiet?"

Kakashi glared at him. "I'm always quiet. Now leave me alone."

Naruto shook his head. "We're a team now, and as your teammate, it's my job to make sure you're alright."

"You don't need to worry about me." Kakashi said, his frustration showing in his voice. This was the most emotion Naruto had seen out of the young Kakashi.

"You're usually boring and quiet, but at least you talk to us occasionally. Why are you so quiet today?" Naruto knew he was pushing, but he knew it was what Kakashi wanted. He remembered the days when all he wanted was for someone to care enough to ask him about what was upsetting him. As a child no one did. It wasn't until he was reminiscing about some of the things that had once happened to him, that someone prodded him to tell them about his past. He had fought, no longer wanting to share his secrets with anyone, but the person had been persistent and Naruto had eventually spilled everything. Ironically, that person had been Kakashi.

"I told you, I'm not different than usual. Now leave me alone." Kakashi's anger was becoming clearer.

"Is this because you're not getting any missions because of us? Or maybe you're upset that no one seems to be paying attention to you." He knew his words were harsh, but he also knew that Kakashi wouldn't open up unless he was pushed to his breaking point.

"I couldn't care less about you guys! All you ever do is run around and make fools of yourselves." Kakashi's voice was rising, and his eyes were flashing in anger. "People's lives are on the line, and you two are always goofing off and not taking things seriously. People could die if we mess up! That's why you should follow the rules! The rules are made to help make difficult decisions for you so that less people die."

"You're young. I doubt you've lost that many people in your life."

That was the last straw. "You think I haven't lost a lot of people! I'm an orphan. My mother died when I was born, then my father went and screwed up a mission. He got so depressed from the mission that he killed himself. Five years ago today, I walked in and saw him lying on the floor in a pool of blood. You think I haven't lost anyone? I've lost everyone." Kakashi was panting, and his face was red.

"You say you've lost everyone, but you haven't. You have Minato-sensei, Rin, Obito, and even me. It's hard when you lose someone, but the best thing to do is rely on your friends. When you allow them to help you, then you don't have to be the strong one all the time. You can be broken if you want, that way you can heal properly. Do you really want to go through life holding onto the past? There's no future in that?" Naruto said softly. He locked eyes with Kakashi, and he saw the raw pain in his eyes. Though he was a stone cold killer on the outside, on the inside Kakashi still hadn't moved beyond the little boy who found his father.

Kakashi looked like he was going to say something, but instead he turned his back to Naruto. "I am a shinobi; my future is set in stone. As long as I live by the rules, I don't need to have my own vision for the future. I am not holding on to the past, I am merely existing in the present." Kakashi left Naruto standing there as he walked to his house. Naruto stared after Kakashi. It was good that Kakashi had voiced some of his problems, but he was still a long way off from moving on. Naruto briefly wondered if Kakashi ever moved on. Even in his own time Kakashi spent most of his time at the cemetery, reliving the past. Maybe when he got back to his own time, he could find a way to help his sensei.

**A/N: I have no idea where that ending came from. The beginning I had planned out, but once I was halfway though the chapter I drew a blank. It took me a bit to figure out what should happen next, then the ending with Kakashi just sort of happened. His being quiet wasn't going to be a big deal, then I thought 'what if it was the anniversary of his fathers death?' The last 500 or so words just seemed to spill out onto paper.**

**I hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment after a two week wait. I'm not sure how parts of it mesh**** with the rest of the story, but it was what came to me, and that's how I write. **

**Thank you to everyone who's still reading this story. It means a lot when I look at my inbox and see I have reviews. **

**Merry Christmas, everyone.**


	16. Chapter 16

It had been three days since Minato and Jiraiya left. A man named Tadase was placed as their temporary leader. Naruto suspected that Tadase was an Anbu. He already knew that he was constantly being watched. Despite being placed as their leader, Tadase hardly did anything. The first day he had made them do drills, which had seemed promising enough, until he decided they had enough knowledge and could work without him. He now sat on the fence of the training grounds, pretending to watch them. At least Kakashi had blatantly ignored them when he was supposed to be training them.

Naruto's thoughts drifted to Kakashi. Ever since Naruto had confronted him three days ago, Kakashi hadn't said a word to him and he had acted colder than usual with the others. He had been trying to help, but Naruto was afraid he had actually made things worse. He knew what Kakashi went through as a child, for Kakashi had told him, but he hadn't realized how much Kakashi internalized things. He really wanted to find a way to get Kakashi to open up.

A blur brought Naruto back to reality. His reflexed kicked in and he easily avoided Obito's left hook. He had forgotten that they were in the middle of a spar. With Tadase and Anbu nearby they couldn't risk training all out, so they were mostly doing basics. Obito looked discouraged at having failed to hit his target, especially since the target had been distracted. Naruto grinned and mouthed "Hokage" to Obito who merely grumbled. Naruto had a feeling that despite Obito's knowledge that he was a future Hokage he still hadn't grasped how powerful Naruto truly was.

Naruto and Obito continued their sparring match. Obito threw more punches and several kicks, but Naruto managed to dodge them all, though he made it look like it took some effort. In turn he attacked Obito and allowed most of hits to be misses. There was no point in making this a real fight.

Naruto was dodging one of Obito's kicks when a loud voice startled both of them. "That's the most pathetic excuse for a fight that I've ever seen." Naruto looked to find the source of the voice and froze. A woman with bright red hair stood at the edge of the field. She had her hands on her hips and was shaking her head. "No wonder Minato asked me to check in on you guys."

His mother was standing before him. She looked every bit as beautiful as he remembered from his conversation with her in his mind, but unlike then she had a presence around her that could only be from the Kyuubi. Naruto wondered if that was what others felt when they checked his chakra. Looking at his mother again, Naruto couldn't believe he was having the chance to meet both his mother and father. When had fate ever been this kind to him?

Obito looked like he was about to retort, but a look from Naruto shut him up.

"What are you doing here, Kushina-san." Kakashi asked. His voice was more monotone than Naruto had ever heard it. Kakashi put Sasuke to shame when it came to being apathetic.

"I just said that Minato asked me to check in on you guys." Kushina looked at the rest of the field, which was empty except for Tadase. "Where's Rin?"

"She's at the hospital. One of the nurses there agreed to give her some medical training." Obito said.

"At least she's doing something. Honestly, what were you doing? You can't even call that training, it looked like you were barely trying." Kushina shook her head again. Naruto thought he had been doing a good job of making it look like he was putting an effort into things, but Kushina must've been more attentive then Tadase. That wasn't hard to believe. Naruto felt her gaze on him. "Minato told me you looked like him, but I wasn't expected you to look this much alike." There was a hint of wonder in her voice. Naruto suddenly felt subconscious as she studied him thoroughly.

"Kushina-san, are you here to train us or waste our time?" Kakashi interrupted Kushina's examination.

She glared at him before answering. "I told Minato I'd help you some, and I certainly am not going to _waste _your time. When did you become so rude, Kakashi-_kun_?" Kakashi stared blankly at Kushina. Realizing he didn't care about anything but training, Kushina retuned her attention to insulting Naruto and Obito's fight. "Your punches had no power behind them. Didn't anyone ever tell you that all your power came from your hips? And your kicks had no control. It was like you were just throwing your leg out there, hoping it would connect." Actually, he was attempting to miss. And, for her information, he was succeeding. "I know that isn't how Minato taught you to fight. Do you think you could relax and be lazy while he was gone?"

They both shook their heads. She continued, "I have my own missions to do, so I won't be able to help you out much in the next month, so I'm just going to have to work you even harder today." And she proceeded to do just that. By the time dusk came, Obito and Kakashi were both on their knees, panting. Naruto would be in the same condition if he hadn't gone through training with Pa, who was a harsh teacher. Naruto was surprised at how much control Kushina had over her chakra. Everything she asked them to do she gave an example for. He had known that the Uzumaki clan had great chakra chains and great chakra control, but he had thought that with the Kyuubi she would have to struggle more to keep that control.

Maybe she had befriended the Kyuubi. No, the Kyuubi had too much hatred in him when he was imprisoned inside Naruto for him to have befriended anyone. Then the answer must be whatever seal was holding the Kyuubi in place. It probably had to do with chakra chains. Naruto wished he had been able to learn how to perform the chains, but without another Uzumaki to teach him, he had no way of learning. And it wasn't like he could ask Kushina for help, then he would have to explain why he thought he was even capable of them.

"The ramen stand is still open, so get up." Kushina demanded. Naruto laughed to himself at her enthusiasm. With both of his parents loving ramen, he really hadn't stood a chance. Next time someone made fun of his love for ramen, he was blaming genetics.

Naruto got up and then gave Obito a hand up. He offered to help Kakashi, but he just ignored him completely. How long was Kakashi going to ignore him? Naruto looked up and caught Kushina's gaze. He was started that her light blue eyes were fixed solely on him, studying him like he was a puzzle that needed solving. He was mesmerized by her. What would growing up have been like if he had a mother in his life? Would he have still gone through those years of torture and pain, or would she have protected him? Looking into her eyes, Naruto doubted Kushina would have let anyone mess with him. She searched his eyes before a new look came into her own.

He turned his gaze first, pretending to find something else to look at, but his mind kept going back to the look in her eyes. At the last moment, before he turned his gaze away, her eyes had changed from searching to knowing. And the scary part was that he didn't know what she knew.

oOoOo

It was on the fifth day of their journey that Minato saw the outskirts of the capital of Iwa. He and Jiraiya had been traveling under a henge since they left the Fire country. To any passerby they looked like nothing more than two civilian travelers. Minato was surprised at how easy it had been to infiltrate the country, but he should've known that Jiraiya would find an easy way to get them in. The city before them was larger than any city he had ever been in. Each building looked to be six or seven stories high, and there were several that looked like they could contain all of Konoha in them.

While a large city would make it harder to keep track of individuals, it would also make it harder for people to keep track of them. Minato thought back on the mission file. He and Jiraiya were supposed to be posing as the Daimyo's servants. Konoha had a special guard for their Daimyo to prevent anyone from spying on and attacking him, but Iwa didn't have the same precaution. It seemed like the people of Iwa didn't fear the war would end up on their own land.

Jiraiya motioned for him to speed up, which he easily did. If he knew where he was going he would be in the front. Jiraiya led them to a walking path, where he slowed down. The walked down the path, which lead into the city walls. Once again, Minato expected the guards to ask for them to sign in and be approved by a guard, but they didn't, instead only doing a short search to see if they had any weapons on them. They had known they wouldn't be able to sneak weapons in without raising suspicion, so they had hidden them in a small grove five miles from the country's border. When the guard was satisfied that they had no weapons on them, he waved them forward.

The inside of the city was as big as the outside made it seem; there didn't seem to be any small building in the city. Knowing they still had one more night before they could start on the next step in the plan, Minato started down the streets in hopes of finding a place to stay. Jiraiya pointed out a hotel down one of the streets. Minato took one look at the name of the hotel before shaking his head. He wanted no part in one of Jiraiya's perverted plans. He got in enough trouble from his fiancé for hanging around Jiraiya too much, he wasn't about to give her more to nag him about.

After another twenty minutes of searching, Minato finally found a hotel that rented rooms at a reasonable price. Entering the room, he didn't even attempt to wash himself before he collapsed on the bed. If there was one thing Minato hated about being on missions, it was the lack of a bed. Now, he wasn't a man who hated getting dirty and he slept alright on the hard ground, but nothing felt as good after working hard than to relax onto a soft bed. It wasn't long before he started drifting off to sleep. Jiraiya could make sure the room was secure.

It was the brightness of the room that aroused Minato. He looked around to see that the sun had barely risen over the horizon. Of course he had to pick the room with a view of the sunrise. Wanted to sleep, but knowing they needed to get started on the next part of their mission, he shook Jiraiya awake. The older man grumbled before rolled over. Minato rolled his eyes and pushed Jiraiya off the bed. He shot up with a snarl. "You don't have to be so mean about things." He said as he rubbed his bottom.

"Get up and stop complaining. We need to make it to the selection before it's over." Minato went to the bathroom and quickly washed himself off in the mirror. There wasn't much point in showering when he was most likely going to need another one by the end of the day. Once both he and Jiraiya were ready, something that took only four minutes to accomplish, the two set towards were the lineup would be.

He and Jiraiya would be going undercover as servants of the Daimyo. This would give them a way to spy on the ruler and also provide an opportunity to use him if necessary. Minato was convinced that the Iwa shinobi didn't expect the Daimyo to play any part in the war, so they had left him unprotected. Though it was the Kage who ruled the shinobi, it was the Daimyo who gave him that position. The shinobi leaving the civilians out of the war might be what causes the Iwa shinobi to lose the war.

Minato saw the men lined up, hoping to be offered a job working for the Daimyo. He felt pity for the men. These must be the men the other citizens looked down on. They lived in a great city, and yet they couldn't find any other job. Half of these men probably didn't get a job because of discrimination based on their social standings or their family's history. It was a pity, for several of them looked like strong workers. He knew it wasn't a guarantee that he would be selected for a position, but he was able to make himself look as fitting as possible for a job as a servant.

The guard came down the line and examined all of them. He stopped for a moment on the man next to Jiraiya, before he moved onto Jiraiya. He passed over him without a second look. After having looked at every man in the line, the guard started motioning people forward. Minato was told to step forward, while Jiraiya was not. At least it appeared that one of them was going to make it in. If neither of them had they would've had to either find another way in or report this as a failed mission.

"Front line, follow me. You're going to need more fitting clothes if you're going to be in the Daimyo's presence." The guard walked toward the tall building behind him. He opened the door and motioned them in. As he passed, Minato made a hand motion to Jiraiya, informing him that he would find a way to pass information along at night. Jiraiya shifted; signally that he got the message. Minato looked in front of him, and held his head high. He had never been on a mission like this before, but he was determined that this wouldn't be a failure. He knew he had been assigned this mission as a way to get away from Naruto, but he would treat it no differently from any other mission. And hopefully they would be done in time to make it back to Konoha before the final exams start.

The inside of the building looked smaller than the outside, but that may be because of the small hallway with many rooms or smaller hallways running off of it. It looked like a maze and he wondered how he was going to be able to get himself out of there if need be. The guard led them to a small room filled with clothes that were plain, but in good condition. Minato grabbed pair that looked like they'd fit and put them on. The shirt hung a little loose, but the pants fit.

As they were dressing, the guard filled them in on what their job entailed. Mostly it was cleaning, cooking (they didn't have any woman employees-Jiraiya would be glad he didn't get in), and serving any lords that may be in the building. Minato paid attention, but barely. He was already scouting out who could possibly be a good source of information. Everyone here would be new, but some would have more intellect than others. None seemed to draw his attention except for a scrawny young man that looked more confident in himself than men twice his size were. The young man was eyeing everyone, his intend looking to be the same as Minato's.

As the instructions came to an end and the questions began, Minato made his way over to the servant. "The name's Jun." Minato introduced himself.

The scrawny man appraised him before sticking his hand out. "Hiro." Minato took the man's hand and shook it. Hiro's attention became fixed on something behind Minato, and he excused himself to see to it. Minato watched him go, hoping he was right about the man in that he would rise through the ranks quickly. As the group was lead to where they would be staying, a room on the far side of what Minato referred to as a 'castle', Minato caught a glimpse of one of the men he knew he had seen in the lineup earlier. The man looked dejected, like he had just lost everything. Guilt hit Minato. He had taken a position that should've gone to another man. It didn't matter than a lineup for new servants was held every three weeks, this man needed a job now and he didn't have one. If Minato actually got paid for this, he would make sure that he gave the money to a man that actually needed it.

Arriving at the room, Minato realized that sneaking out would be harder than he thought. The doors that lead to the hallway had a guard and he was sure that every other exit had one as well. If he was escaping things would be easy, but he didn't want anyone to start wondering why the guards were knocked unconscious until after he was long gone. His room was also to be shared with two others, a fit man who looked like he had eaten something sour and a smaller man who looked to be more book smart than street smart. The room did have a window, which would likely be his only means of getting out.

Minato waited for the two men to fall asleep before he opened the window. Planning on the return being harder than the exit, Minato placed the seals necessary for his Hiraishin. He would have to ask Jiraiya to allow him to put a seal on him to make things easier. If he could just appear by Jiraiya and then appear back, they could communicate much better. Everything seemed to be working out for the mission, which usually meant something was about to go wrong.

**A/N: This update came sooner than even I planned. That's what happens when you have nothing to do but talk to a friend on facebook. Sorry that it's shorter than previous chapters have been, but if I had continued it would've been about 5,000 words, and I can't keep up with that.**

**Thank you for reading, and please review.**


	17. Chapter 17

It was a week into the mission and Minato had learned nothing new. He hadn't expected to discover any helpful secrets on the first day, but by day five he had become discouraged. Surely he should've overheard something: a rumor on the war, what the Daimyo had on his schedule, or even about the lords traveling to and from the city. But he'd heard nothing.

Minato poured a half cup of water into the pot in front of him. Kushina would laugh if she saw him in the kitchen; he always told her that she would never find him cooking, or worse, baking, but here he was. The part that would really amuse her was that he was actually pretty good at it. _It's probably a good thing. Kushina can't cook to save a life._

Turning the oven up, Minato picked up the dirty dishes around him and went to the sink. Hiro, the confident man he had met on day one, was washing the dishes. Minato offered him a small smile, but the man only grunted in response. This was how their conversations usually went, Minato would say something about the weather or such, and Hiro would grunt his response. Minato still believed that Hiro would be the first to get promoted and included in one of the inner circles, so he kept up his attempts to befriend the man. It didn't help that Minato didn't trust him. There was something slightly off about Hiro, whether it was from his quietness or that he seemed too proud and self-confident to ever willingly become a servant, something didn't fit. It was best to keep an eye on him.

Minato turned the heat on the oven down before the water could spill over the pot. He carefully poured a bowl of vegetables into the water, before he put a lid on it. Turning to the counter, he took out a piece of meat and cut it into cubes. Another man was working on a spice to put into the stew. Minato waited until the other man had put the spices in before he added the meat. Keeping an eye on the soup, he surveyed the rest of the servants in the room. The man who made the spice was an elder man whom had several scars on his hands and forearms. Though he was older, he seemed to be as steady and strong as the other men here. Hiro was still washing the dishes. Minato had that job once; the dishes had seemed never ending. The one responsible for roasting the meat was a young man who seemed looked younger than he claimed to be. If Minato guessed correctly, then the man was probably lying about his age so he could get a job. He was probably the one responsible for providing for his family. The only other occupant in the room was a middle age man sweeping the floor.

The longer Minato spent on this mission, the more he started to suspect that the Sandaime made it up solely to get him out of the village. He had previously assumed that this was a legitimate mission, but looking at the men surrounding him, he couldn't help but think that there was nothing more going on here. He would work here for another two weeks, ending on the same day the chuunin exams began. With the time it would take to travel home, the chuunin exams would be over and so would Naruto's investigation. He would miss everything, which was hardly a coincidence. He knew the Hokage wanted him to be out of the village, but was it necessary to give him a fake mission? The Daimyo was hardly a player in the war. If Minato was to capture him, the shinobi wouldn't care about his life, they would think only of what could help them win the war.

A churning starting in his stomach and it only increased the more he thought of what the Sandaime had done. He respected the man, and he had thought that the Sandaime respected him as well, so why had he sent him away. Didn't he know that despite his personal opinion, Minato would never go against what the Hokage ordered him to do? He knew the Sandaime was only doing what he thought was best, but he still felt betrayed at his lack of trust in him. Even Jiraiya was in agreement with the Sandaime.

It was only after he had lied in bed half the night that Minato was able to isolate the emotion going through him. Anger. It was something he felt so rarely that it had taken some time to recognize. He was angry that the Sandaime sent him away. Angry that he was forced to abandon a kid he believed to be innocent of the accusations against him. And he was angry that he was stuck here being completely useless and angry that those whom he trusted the most had been the ones to put him in this situation.

It takes a lot to get Namikaze Minato angry, but once he was, it took a lot for him to forgive.

oOoOo

_Punch. Kick. Block. Punch. Kick. Block._ The repetitiveness of the exercise was driving Obito insane. Naruto had suggested it as a way to improve his taijutsu, but Obito couldn't see how it would work. He almost preferred Kushina's crazy training sessions to this. She had only been able to train them twice so far, but each time he had gone home sore in new places.

The thought of home caused Obito to kick harder than he had intended. Pain shot down his leg as he hit the pole with his shin. He cried out as he gripped his shin, but then Naruto's instructions came back to him. _Don't quit no matter what. It's easy at first, but after some time things start to get harder. Keep focusing on performing the techniques correctly, even when you're tired. If you mess up, do it again. There's no training tomorrow, so keep going until you can't move anymore. _

Fifteen minutes into the exercise Obito started to feel the signs of tiring and by the time he was thirty minutes into the training he felt like quitting. But his muscles were still moving, so he was too. His thoughts drifted back to home. He had tried to keep his entering the chuunin exams from his parents, but he shouldn't have expected that to last. He arrived at home four days ago to his father waiting for him.

"_The chuunin exams, huh? It's taken you long enough to be entered." His father said. Though his voice didn't change from the usual ice, Obito felt like he was mocking him. Not wanting this to turn into an actual conversation Obito didn't answer. His father must've thought differently. "If you want to have a chance at beating anybody you're going to have to improve a lot. I'm surprised you made it through the first two parts, but those were with a team. Let's see how you do on your own."_

_Obito didn't know what possessed him to do so, but he turned to his father, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Yes, let's. There's nothing that can motivate me more than the idea of seeing you fall over in shock."_

_He had never spoken back to his father before and now he knew why. His father had always been verbally abusive, but that was the first day his father had ever hit him._

Punch. Kick. Block. Even with his father's 'punishment,' Obito knew that what he'd said was true. For the past two days he had been working constantly, trying everything he could think of to improve in any way possible. He didn't know how other families acted, but he was sure they were different from his own. Even fellow Uchiha's didn't get treated the same way as he did from their fathers. It was just another reminder that he was an outcast in his own clan. The black sheep of the Uchiha.

Carrying the burden of his home life had become even harder, especially since he knew he had to have some kind of emotional scarring from all of it. He had thought about telling Naruto what happened. After years of keeping his home life a secret, he had wanted to spill it all to someone he trusted. But telling Naruto would be breaching the wall they both had built up. He would have to drop the mask he had been wearing for as long as he could remember, and Naruto would be forced with the choice of keeping his own mask up or being vulnerable with his teammate. If he knew for sure that Naruto would drop his façade, then he would go to him, but Obito couldn't help but think that Naruto wouldn't be quite as willing to be open up as he himself was.

Which left him with nothing but the repetitive exercise he was now performing. Obito's thoughts continued to wander. He thought of what would happen if he dropped his mask. He thought of whether he could actually become a chuunin. He dreamed of the possibility that he could win, though he knew he could never beat Naruto. He would think of one thing and then his mind would quickly change to a new topic. Nothing stayed for more than a few second. The routine of _punch, kick, block,_ became Obito's best friend. At that moment it felt like the only constant in his life. So while the night sky got darker and darker, Obito stayed. He didn't know how long he kept up the exercise, only that when he awoke the next morning he was lying on his back, still at the training grounds.

oOoOo

It had been over a weeks since he had last talked to the Kyuubi, and Naruto missed him. He would never admit that to the fox's face, but it was too quiet in his mind without the fox. The nightmares didn't help. The past two nights in a row, the same memory had interrupted his sleep. Like the previous time, he had awoken when the man's face was revealed. It didn't really matter though, for the man's identity was half of the nightmare. Unlike the first nightmare, he didn't have Kyuubi to help him fall asleep again, so this would be his third day without rest. He could see his fatigue in his sluggish motions. It was a good thing Kushina wasn't training them today; he was sure she would pick up on it.

Naruto arrived at the training field a half hour late. Scanning the field he saw Obito sparring with one of the poles, the same place Naruto had left him the previous afternoon. The bags under his eyes caused Naruto to question whether or not he had ever gone home. Kakashi was leaning against a tree, allowing Rin to practice some kind of medical jutsu on him. Her hands glowed as she put them on Kakashi's arm. Naruto tensed as he remembered her scanning his own arm in a similar way. That was when this all started. He thought he had moved on, until she had mentioned the damage in his arm and he had been forced to come up with a lie. Then Minato had questioned him and for some reason he had told the truth. The nightmares had started that same night. Why had those questions triggered the nightmares? He talked about it briefly with Kakashi and Tsunade on occasion, so why did it affect him so much more now?

A part of him was saying he had never really talked about it with Kakashi and Tsuande, only reassured them that he was fine, but Naruto ignored that part of his mind. The good thing about sharing a mind with Kyuubi was that he was very good at tuning out his inner thoughts. If he couldn't he probably would've broken a while ago. His mind was constantly reminding him of what a failure he was, of how much he pain his own friends had inflicted on him as a child, but he refused to dwell on such things and instead chose to live by his life's slogan: grin and bear it. As long as he was smiling no one would know the pain he was really in, no one but Kyuubi and that voice in his head that told him that everything good in his life was a lie.

"Naruto-kun, do you think you could let me look at your arm again?" Rin's voice broke him out of his trance, but he wished it hadn't.

He shook his head. "You already said it was damaged beyond repair. There's no point in looking at it again." If she did then the nightmares would be definitely be back again that night.

He thought his answer would sway her, but Rin persisted. "I know, but I've been reading up on nerve damage and I think I could help both you and Obito."

"Then go help Obito." He knew he was being short with her, but he was sleep deprived and the idea of another nightmare truly frightened him.

Her eyebrow knitted together in confusion. "I was only trying to help. What's gotten into you?" She studied him before she turned to go interrupt Obito's training.

"What?" Obito shouted. His outburst startled Naruto, but then he remembered the bags under Obito's eyes.

Rin looked taken back by Obito's response. "I found a way to help your arm."

Obito stared at her before slowly nodding. "Okay." He sat down and allowed her to look at his arm.

"What is with you boy's today?" Rin mumbled.

He knew what was up with himself, but what was bothering Obito? He knew enough from observing Obito that things weren't good at home. Had things become worse? Looking at the bags under Obito's eyes, Naruto wished he had taken the time to talk to Obito sooner. He already attempted to help Kakashi, though that didn't turn out so well since Kakashi still wasn't talking to him. The longer he watched Obito, the more sure he was that he needed to get the boy to open up. But how could he expect Obito to open up if he wasn't willing to do it himself?

oOoOo

What in the world had gotten into her boys'? Both looked beyond tired and had just snapped at her, something neither had ever done before. She wondered if it might be stress from the upcoming finals. If so, now seemed like an unusual time for it to start. Why would they only now be worrying about what was coming in another two week? Neither boy was much of a worrier, which only added to her confusion.

It could be something else. She thought of Naruto's reaction to her request to reexamine his arm. He had been unwavering in his refusal of her help. He probably knew it was beyond help, but why wouldn't he be willing to try something new?

Then there was Obito. She couldn't come up with anything to explain him. Maybe he was just sleep deprived.

"I'm going home." Kakashi said. His voice reminded her of yet another one of her team's problems. For the past week Kakashi had been colder than ever, and like the other boy's, she didn't know what triggered it.

At this point, the only thing she did know was that she couldn't wait for Minato to get back. Without him, their entire team seemed lost, unsure of what to do next.

oOoOo

Kushina stood in front of her least favorite building in Konoha, trying to build up the will to go in. The tall structure of the library stood in front of her. Pulling the handle, she entered and was immediately assaulted by the musky smell she associated with books. Looking at the tall stacks before her made her self-appointed task seem overwhelming. The library had been her last resort, but in such a massive place she didn't know where to start.

The librarian smiled at her. "Can I help you with anything, dear?"

Not wanted the woman to know what she was there for, she merely asked for the directory. "How are the sections organized?"

The librarian took the next several minutes to explain the building design to her. The last shelf is where the historic records are kept. They contain written accounts of Konoha's history as well as genealogical records." That was what she needed. Genealogical records. She thanked the librarian before heading in the direction of the historic section. She made sure no one was following her as she slipped into the last aisle. The right side was Konoha's history, while the left was the genealogical records. She looked through the list of books until she found the ones contained NA.

Opened the books she went through the table of contents. _Naa, Nailto, Naga…Namikaze._ The name was at the beginning of the second page. She opened the book to the marked page and started reading.

_The Namikaze's are a shinobi family with no known kekkei genkei. The surname can only be traced back four generations. Namikaze Ikuto is the first known Namikaze. _

The passage went on with the list of deceased Namikaze's. Like her previous research, the end result was the same. Namikaze Minato is the last known member of the Namikaze line. But that couldn't be true, Naruto looked too much like Minato for them to not be related. She went back further in the records, looking for families that had some kind of connection to the Namikaze's but none showed up.

Both of Minato's parent's had died before he became a chuunin, and Minato was an only child. He also had an aunt on his father's side who never married. Was it possible she had a child that she kept secret or gave up? At this point it seemed more likely than any other scenario. Kushina left the library, classifying her search as 'unsuccessful', and headed home. She made herself a cup of instant ramen before sitting down at the table to eat. Her ramen was halfway finished when another idea came to her. The hospital.

When Naruto was first found he was sent to the hospital. Surely they had to have drawn blood. If she could just get them to compare it to Minato's…but how could she do that without raising suspicion? The only conclusion she came to was that she needed to go see the Sandaime. She knew from Minato that he suspected Naruto of hiding something. His suspicion would give him reason to look into this. If it came back negative then she would be back to where she was now and no harm would be done. And if it was positive? At least it would explain why Naruto and Minato could pass for twins.

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long to get up. I can only focus on one TV show or book at a time and I got a new trilogy for Christmas and have been reading that. I finished it almost a week ago, but it was such a good book that it's taken me a few days to be able to get back into my story. The book was the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and I recommend it. I only caution that there is a lot of gore, if you can't stand for that kind of thing, then please don't read. **

**I had another anonymous review mention Minato's and Naruto's elemental affinities again. If you have any questions on that, please go back and read my previous author notes, I explain it there. **

**Lastly, I just want to say that I'm not making the Sandaime out to be a bad guy, only one being forced to make hard decisions. Minato hasn't been forced into the same situations Sarutobi has been, so he doesn't understand the pressure the Hokage is under. Right now Minato is naive in some ways and can't comprehend having to compromise himself in order to do what is best for the entire village.**


	18. Chapter 18

Sleep was becoming a lost cause. Naruto hadn't been able to get a full night's sleep since the Kyuubi had left a weeks and a half ago. And when he did sleep, it was hardly restful. Why was the memory resurfacing now? One or two nightmares he could understand, but why was it happening every night now. He had been trying to block that memory out for three years now, and up until Rin asked about his injury, he had been succeeding.

Naruto stared up at the ceiling of the room he was staying in. He always awoke at the same point: as he entered the clearing and saw the face of the laughing man. It was better that way. He didn't have to remember what had happened when he stepped into the clearing; what he had done. Even now, he was suppressing the rest of the memory. Subconsciously he knew what happened next, but as long as he didn't dwell on it, he could pretend it never happened.

Turning to lie on his side, Naruto looked out through the window in his room. This Konoha looked so different from the one he was used to. Pein's attack had entirely changed the landscape, and Naruto hadn't realized how much he had become used to the new look, until he was in the past. He wanted to say he missed when Konoha was like this, but how could he? This was the Konoha that hated him as a child. This was the Konoha that refused to acknowledge him. It was the Konoha after Pein's attack that had finally started looking at him like a person and not a monster. But there were some good things about the old Konoha. He had made some of his first friends in the old Konoha: the Sandaime, Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, the Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and Jiraiya. Sasuke. He had made many friends in those first few years. Yes, some good things came out of the old Konoha, but he belonged in the new one.

Was time moving forward in the future? Was he stuck here in the past? If he didn't know how he got here, how was he supposed to return? Right now, Kyuubi was trying to find a way home, but what if he couldn't find anything? What if he was stuck here forever? Could he stick with his decision to not alter the future? Could he let his new friends die? Could he let his parents die? If he changed just one thing, would it change the entire future? If his father lived would Itachi still massacre the Uchiha clan? No, the Uchiha's started their plans for an uprising after they were accused of being behind Kyuubi's attack. If Minato lived then he would've been able to say that it was a single Uchiha working towards his own goal that released the Kyuubi.

What would life be like without the Kyuubi? If he was never removed from Kushina, then he never would've been sealed in Naruto. At first he had hated the fox; hated what his life had been because of him. Then things changed during the 4th Shinobi War. For some reason, the Kyuubi had decided to trust him enough to give him his chakra, and they had beaten Tobi as a result. Afterwards, they had become tentative friends, though Kyuubi had insisted that he was doing it out of boredom. He said he only talked to Naruto because there was no one else to talk to and he wanted some entertainment. If he had never had the Kyuubi, surely he would've had more friends as a child, he might have even been known as the Yondaime's son, but would he change the friendships he now had just so he wouldn't be lonely during his younger years? No, he couldn't. Those friendships were too precious to him.

The night hours crept by slowly, but Naruto could find sleep. To be honest, he wasn't looking too hard. The only thing waiting for him was that same nightmare, and his biggest fear was that it would play out. As much as he woke up in fear, he was also relieved. At least he didn't have to think on what happened next. If he didn't think on it, then he could forget it happened. There could have been a different ending.

A prickle against his mind alerted Naruto to another's presence. He tensed for a minute and then relaxed as he recognized the familiar presence of the Kyuubi. Hopefully Kyuubi had knew more about their situation now. He waited until the Kyuubi had settled in and was lying down before he entered his mindscape, still a sewer even after befriending the Kyuubi. When he told Kakashi what he saw, the jounin had looked at him strangely, though Naruto couldn't understand why. Naruto walked the path to the Kyuubi's former cage. Where the gate used to be sealed shut, they now stood open. The Kyuubi was resting in the entrance, his paws sticking out past the gate.

He opened his eyes when he felt Naruto approach, but said nothing. Naruto climbed onto one of the Kyuubi's paws and leaned against him. His own eyes drooped closed. He had been planning on talking to the Kyuubi, but the safety the Kyuubi's presence was offering was too much to pass up on. He would talk to the Kyuubi in the morning, right now he would rest. Kyuubi closed his eyes and put a blanket over Naruto's and his own minds. Until morning, their heads would be empty. They both needed rest.

oOoOo

Minato listened as the servants around him talked about Hiro's recent promotion. The man would now be managing a group of servants. Minato hoped he was a part of that group. It would give him easier access to Hiro. The servants continued to gossip while working. Today Minato's job was dusting and polishing the hallways and anything in them. The work was easy, but there were many hallways, making it one of the longer jobs.

"Jun." It took a minute for Minato to recall that was the name he had given everyone. It was rare for someone to actually call him by it. He turned to see Hiro waiting for him. "Come with me."

Minato didn't care much for being ordered around, but he followed the man. Hiro lead him away from the group, and down several corridors. After ten minutes of walking, Hiro opened a door on the right of the hall and gestured for Minato to enter.

The room was sparse. An unused desk lined one wall, a dusty picture hung on another, and a lantern was placed in the center of the room. It was an odd place to put a lantern, but it served its purpose. The light from the lantern lit the entire room. Minato heard the door close behind him. He turned to face Hiro. The man was eyeing him closely, studying him. "You're not who I was expecting when the Hokage told me he was sending someone to help me." The Hokage? Minato watched in shock as Hiro reached into the pocket and pulled out his hitai-ate. "I don't usually carry this around with me, but I figured you wouldn't believe me if I didn't show you it."

"You're from Konoha?" Minato sputtered out. Why wouldn't the Hokage have informed him that he was joining someone on this mission? And why had Hiro waited until now to tell him? Minato looked over Hiro. He didn't recognize the man, but that could mean many things. Most likely was that this was an Anbu member, or he was using a henge.

Hiro scowled. "I just showed you my hitai-ate, didn't I?"

Minato reorganized his thoughts. "Is this mission still an attempt to gain control of the Daimyo, or is there more to it?"

Hiro scoffed at him. "Control the Daimyo? There's no point in that, he not a big enough player in the war." Hiro went to the desk and pulled out a drawer full of papers. He rifled through them, searching. "The shinobi pay so little attention to this city, that I've been using it as a home base for my spying. Iwa has no idea that we have a base set up in their country."

Minato stared at Hiro's back. "Then what is the point of working for the Daimyo? And why was I sent here? You seem to have everything under control."

Hiro found the paper he was looking for and pulled it out. "A few of my spies work for the Daimyo and becoming a servant made it easier to communicate with them. One of them is in charge of keeping track of chakra disturbances. A little over a month ago, he reported that there was a massive disturbance in the chakra levels. He's been monitoring it since, and he says that everything's balance is now off. It seems like a great source of chakra suddenly appeared out of nowhere."

Minato took the paper from Hiro. He knew enough about chakra balances to know that chakra growth was gradual. Even if a child was born or someone tapped into a great source, the strengthening of it had to happen slowly. A sudden increase in chakra was impossible. "How could something like that happen?"

Hiro shrugged. "Don't know for sure. Our job is to make sure it has nothing to do with Iwa. It's too convenient that a sudden increase of chakra occurs during the war. The Sandaime has confirmed that it's not our doing, and all the other Kage's are claiming the same. Iwa is the only village to have said nothing on the matter."

"Why did you wait until now to inform me of this?" Minato asked. He could've been helping for over a week now, instead of spending everyday cleaning.

Hiro shrugged. "The Hokage didn't tell me who he was sending. I told you, you aren't what I was expecting." Minato tried not to take offense at that. Who had he been thinking the Hokage would send. Another dot connected. Jiraiya. The Sandaime had hoped that Jiraiya would be included in the servants' lineup. Goes to show that not everything happened the way you planned.

"How are we going to go about investigating this?" Minato knew a good deal about chakra, but definitely not enough to be considered an expert.

"We believe it has to do with sealing." That's why the Hokage sent him. Seals he knew. "Iwa has probably found a new seal that has enabled them to increase their chakra levels." Which was bad on two levels. One, Iwa shinobi could now have more than their natural chakra, increasing their strength. And two, if the offset of chakra continued, then the balance of the shinobi world could shift significantly. Who knew what would happen then. It was part of the reason the Bijuu balance was so important. When a host died and it took the Bijuu a few weeks to resurface, there had been several reports of chakra not working correctly. Minato thought back to the time frame Hiro had mentioned. A little over a month ago…nothing had really changed except for Naruto's arrival in Konoha. But people traveled all the time. That was hardly something to make note of.

"The seal makers work outside of the hidden village, which is a benefit for us. Reports say that the seal maker base is ten miles north of here. We should be able to make it there and back in one night."

"How are we supposed to get into the base?" Seals were important, they wouldn't be left unguarded. "It's most likely that the entire building will be covered with seals. I know quite a bit about them, but it'll take some time to work through."

Hiro looked him over again. "You're a seal maker?" For the first time, there seemed to be respect in the man's tone.

Minato shrugged. "More or less. I still have a long way to go before I can claim to be a master at it, but I've been working at making my own for some time now."

"That'll be useful." Hiro took the paper back and put it away in the desk. "I've noticed that you disappear at night. Are you with another shinobi from Konoha?" Minato nodded and told him about Jiraiya. Hiro seemed pleased to have him on their team. "We'll meet up after ten tonight. We only have one shot at this. If it takes as long as you think it will, I'll have to leave you two. I can't risk not being here in the morning. I've been working undercover for months, I can't blow that now."

oOoOo

"Did you find anything about our appearance here?" With the Kyuubi's assistance, Naruto had slept without any fear of the nightmare. Now that they were both rested it was time to talk.

Kyuubi was slow in answering. "I don't think we're here by accident." He finally said.

"If it wasn't an accident that brought us here, than what did?" Something had to have caused their trip to the past.

Kyuubi sighed. "I don't think it was _what_, but _whom._ I searched through most of the hidden villages, and none of them seem to know anything, except for Iwa. There's been a lot of recent activity in their seal making base, which causes me to believe that they are onto something."

Could their presence here be Iwa's doing? "You think someone made a seal that brought us from the future? Why would they do that?"

The Kyuubi gave him a _I-can't-believe-I'm-sill-stuck-with-this-idiot_ look. "You're the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, baka! Someone wants to use us to win the war. They probably know they can't use Kushina, so they found a way to pull a jinchuuriki from the future into the past."

Everything Kyuubi said made sense. Someone had brought them here to use them in the war. Naruto's stomach churned. Someone wanted to use them as weapons. They wouldn't succeed though. Whoever it was had made a mistake in bringing a Konoha jinchuuriki into the past. There was no way they were going to attack their own home.

"Did you find anything to get us back?" Naruto asked. If a seal had brought them here, then a seal would be the way to send them back.

Kyuubi shook his head. "I don't think they made a seal to return us. They probably don't care whether we return to our home or not. There's more." Of course there was more. Because being stuck in the past wasn't enough. "My presence here has thrown of the balance of things. There are currently ten jinchuuriki in this time. That's more chakra than the shinobi world was made to handle. We need to find a way to get back to our time before our presence creates something irreversible."

If they couldn't have a seal made to get them back home, they would be stuck. If they were stuck, then the world could start to collapse. They couldn't let that happen.

Naruto stood up. "I was getting a little bored with things here anyway. It's a shame this S-rank mission came up so close to the chuunin exams, though." Naruto smiled at the Kyuubi. "That's one more chuunin exam I won't complete.

"You should give up on becoming a chuunin."

Naruto shrugged.

Naruto left his mindscape and sat up in his bed. The sun was high in the sky, meaning it was close to 11. He had slept later than planned. Oh, well, he wasn't going to training today anyway. He grabbed his weapon pouch and headed out through the window. Though the sun was shining brightly, the air was chilly. Once he got into a rhythm of running, he would warm up. He dodged behind a building and sent out three Kage Bunshin in opposite directions. Once he was sure the Anbu following him were gone, he set off again. The Sandaime really needed to find better Anbu.

The trip out of Konoha was going well, until Naruto spotted a small figure with the Uchiha fan on his shirt up ahead. Naruto turned to avoid being spotted, but he was too late. Contrary to popular belief, Obito was observant. Naruto slowed from his run as Obito approached him with a smile. "I knew I was running late, but I wasn't expected you to be too."

Naruto shrugged. He was going to suggest Obito going on ahead and then leaving, but something held him back. This could be the last time he saw Obito. Did he really want to leave him on these terms? He had already messed up with this Kakashi, who still refused to speak to him. He knew that Kakashi was eventually shown the importance of teammates, but he still didn't know how to let go of the past. At least Naruto would have a second chance with him if he ever got back to the future. He wouldn't have that chance with Obito. He had tried to ignore it, but he knew that Obito was going to die. He had always known.

"Obito." His tone must have alert Obito that he was serious, because the usual goofy grin on Obito's face was gone. "I'm sorry that you are treated as an outcast by the Uchiha's." Obito's eyes widened. They had been pretending not to notice the others' mask for as long as they'd known each other. Naruto continued. "You shouldn't worry about what they think. You're a great shinobi. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise." Naruto could see the beginning of tears form in Obito's eyes. For as much as he was a shinobi, he was also a child. Naruto didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he grabbed Obito and pulled him into his arms. He held Obito as he wished someone had held him as a child. Obito clung to him, tears silently streaming down his face. It seemed like an eternity before Obito pulled back and lifted his goggles enough to wipe his eyes. Naruto smiled when Obito didn't give a lame excuse for his tears.

"Why don't you go ahead?" Naruto suggested to Obito. Obito nodded slowly, understanding: Naruto's time in the past was up.

Obito turned to walk away, he had only taken two steps when he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "We're the same, aren't we?"

Naruto nodded. "We are."

"Then I'm sorry for whatever happened to you." Obito gave him one last wave before he was off. Naruto stared at his retreating friend. He felt the all too familiar sadness of losing a friend. No matter how many times he had to say goodbye, he would always be terrible at it.

He walked the rest of the way towards the gates of Konoha, routinely keeping track of whether or not he was being followed. He did a henge before he reached the gates and slipped past the guards. He ran for a mile before he released the henge. They would find him missing soon enough, but he would be long gone by then. A journey to Iwa usually took three days, but with the Kyuubi's chakra, he would be able to make it in a day. Naruto ran.

oOoOo

Kushina stared at the small folder on the Sandaime's desk. This was it. Inside that folder was the result from the blood test. Across from her, the Sandaime was settling into his chair. "I really wish you wouldn't add to my paperwork, Kushina-chan." The Sandaime joked.

Kushina offered a small smile, but she was too nervous to do anything more. She wasn't sure what she was hoping for, but she knew that the best thing would probably be for the test to be negative, that the two were unrelated. There was a chance that Naruto just happened to look like Minato. Everyone's got a twin somewhere, right?

The Sandaime opened the file and quickly read through everything. His face gave nothing away. When the Sandaime finished the reading, he carefully closed the folder before looking up at her. "We had the nurse use the fastest blood test possible, which would only show immediate relations." The Sandaime sighed. "There's no doubt about it: Minato and Naruto are related. And closely. Fifty percent of their blood work is a match, meaning they are most likely cousins or even half-brothers."

Kushina had to remind herself to breathe. Was it possible one of Minato's parents had an affair? Or was Naruto the son of Minato's aunt? Whoever Naruto was, he was Minato's family. She suddenly wished beyond anything that Naruto was innocent of anything the Sandaime might suspect. By being a part of Minato's family, Naruto was also a part of hers.

The Sandaime called an Anbu into the room and told him to bring Naruto to him. Kushina focused on the first task set before them. They needed to figure out what exactly brought Naruto to Konoha.

An hour later, the Anbu had not yet returned. Kushina shifted uneasily in her seat. Maybe Naruto was training and they were having difficulty locating him. Another half hour passed before the Anbu returned.

"He's not here, Hokage-sama." Kushina and the Hokage stared at the Anbu.

The Sandaime cleared his throat. "What do you mean he's not here?"

"He's not in Konoha, Hokage-sama." The Anbu said.

"You mean that you let a nineteen-year-old genin get away from you?" The Sandaime's voice was more menacing than anything Kushina had ever heard. Though it was not directed at her, she straightened in her seat.

The Anbu shifted from one foot to another. "We've been watching him closely. He shouldn't have been able to slip away from us." Kushina gasped as the implications came to her. A genin never would've been able to slip away from trained Anbu. The Sandaime had been right; there was more to Naruto that he claimed. Minato was wrong.

**A/N: Well, it took me three weeks, but here's the next chapter. I was really blanking on what to write. I wrote the first paragraph and the rest of the chapter seemed to appear onto paper. I wrote everything in one sitting, my only stop was for lunch. I think this might be my favorite chapter. **

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I was surprised when I hit 400 reviews, my original goal had been 100. Thank you for the support, and please keep reviewing. **


	19. Chapter 19

_Ten hours ago_

They were still three miles away from the base, but Minato was already feeling anxious for what would await them. Breaking into a seal making base sounded ludicrous. Not only could every inch of the base be covered in seals, but the surrounding forest as well. Getting past one seal was difficult, but making it past hundreds without setting one off? That seemed impossible. Jiraiya and Hiro were several feet behind him. Neither of them could detect seals like Minato could, so they hung back. It was a tricky for Hiro to give directions with Minato ahead of him, but they managed. One mile to go, and still no sign of a trap. Was Iwa that cocky that they didn't believe they needed to protect their base?

A spike in chakra level up ahead alerted him to a seal. The spike was small, it wouldn't have alerted a passing shinobi, but Minato had been searching for it. He stopped on a tree branch and motioned for the two following him to do the same. The both stopped on the tree branch behind him. Minato scouted the area for the seal. None of the trees around him seemed to have anything unusual about them and the bushes on the ground seemed normal. Where had the spike come from? It had to be smartly placed, or any passing traveler would set it off.

A bit of white on the ground caught his attention. He jumped to the ground, being careful to land as far away from the white as possible. From the ground, he noticed the white spot was larger than it had seemed. This was definitely a seal. He cautiously sent out a small chakra wave, which would tell him if the seal was too sensitive to approach. Nothing happened, but he waited in case there was delay in the reaction. A minute passed without any activity. Carefully, Minato crept closer. He stopped just a yard away from the seal, finally able to examine it fully.

Despite the night making it hard to see, Minato could tell the seal was old; the frayed edges of the paper gave that much away. Rain had caused the ink to run, making the seal harder to read. Minato studied the pattern, learning not only what the seal was, but also what activated it. It was a barrier, set up to protect the base. There were mostly others, set up throughout the forest, keeping others from entering the camp. The seal was activated by anyone crossing over the line it created along with the other seals. Memory loss. If a shinobi or civilian crossed over the line, they would be pushed backwards out of the area and forget that they ever entered it. They would go on their way, never having known they had found the seal makers base.

If Hiro didn't have a man on the inside, they never would have found this place. Minato put his pack on the ground and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. He set it on the ground and then pulled out an ink pen. He set to work creating a counter for the seal. The work was tedious, and he was glad to have Jiraiya and Hiro watching his back. His concentration would've been messed up if he had to protect himself and work at the seal at the same time. Every noise the forest caused would've had him jumping.

It took almost half the hour to finish the seal. When he was done, he carefully placed it over the old seal. Nothing visibly happened, but Minato knew it had worked. Before he motioned for the others to proceed, he quickly added the seal for his Hiraishin into the ground. He had been putting the seal in sporadic spots along the journey. He was practiced in it enough that he didn't need paper to put the seal down, just a few hand signs.

Standing up, Minato motioned for Jiraiya and Hiro to join him. They both hopped down from the tree and met him on the ground. Hiro eyed the seal. "Does every seal take that long to crack? It's been close to an hour."

Minato nodded. "It's a long process. It's only going to get hard when we get to the base. I don't think every inch of it will be covered, but it could be. Plus, there are going to be shinobi there. We're only a mile away; at any point we can encounter an enemy shinobi."

Hiro shook his head. "We won't find any shinobi there at night. That's mostly why it is so important we finish this tonight."

"That doesn't change how long it'll take to work on the seals." Seal making was a long and hard task. It was the seal makers job to make a seal that could only be undone by those who knew the seal, and Minato was having to learned the seal and break it. He had tried to do the previous seal quickly, but it was such an intricate art, that moving too quickly could cause him to mess up. Messing up could cause many problems, the least of which was alerting the enemy to their attempts.

"If we're on a tight schedule, then we shouldn't waste time discussing this here. There's nothing we can do about the time it'll take Minato." Jiraiya ushered them forward, he was in a rare serious mood.

Minato took the lead once again. Hiro was right in that they didn't encounter any shinobi for the next mile. There weren't any more seals in the forest, but after with the first seal being a barrier, Minato hadn't expected it. Every few yards he put down another Hiraishin seal. It was best to be prepared. The lessening of the trees signaled that they were getting closer to the base. Fifty feet ahead, a clearing could be seen. They stopped just before the clearing, searching for the base. The clearing was mostly grassy area, with a few trees scattered about. One side of the clearing was a rock wall. The bottom of the rock was cracked and formed a hole.

Minato entered the clearing, thankful for the nights cover. Getting closer to the hole, he could see that it was indeed the entrance to the base. No seal was evident, but there were many that didn't need paper. No seal master would leave his seals unprotected. This was where the hard part started.

_Present time_

_Any minute now shinobi will start filing into the hallways. _The thought was nerve wracking, but Minato refused to let it distract him.

Hiro had left them in the early hours of the morning, reminding them he had to be with the Daimyo in the morning. Minato had paused what he was doing and he used the Hiraishin to transport Hiro to the barrier line, and then had come quickly back. He and Jiraiya were now well into the base. The base was mostly top heavy with the seals, six difficult ones had been in the beginning, but now they only came across one every other hallway. Finding their way through the hallways was turning out to be the most difficult part of the mission. The base was like a labyrinth; at least three hallways were running off of one hallway, and sometimes those ended up being dead ends.

They didn't know exactly what they were looking for or where to start their search, making the hallways even more confusing. They tried every door they came across, but most were empty.

Minato sighed. "We're going to be interrupted any minute now, and we can't risk fighting our way out of here." Minato had been worried about encountering shinobi since they entered the base, but Jiraiya had pointed out that the other shinobi still had training, so they wouldn't start coming into the base until close to noon. It was now only thirty minutes shy of noon.

"I don't think we could find our way out if we tried." Jiraiya complained.

Minato smirked. "I can use Hiraishin to get us out of here, but I can't get us back in. One of the seals we passed doesn't allow for transportation jutsu to be used from outside of the base."

"Aww, why didn't you disable that one?" Jiraiya looked disappointed that they would have to repeat part of their trek.

Minato laughed. "Maybe because somebody was telling me, 'Only do what's absolutely necessary, we don't have a lot of time.'"

Jiraiya took hold of Minato's arm, refusing to answer. Minato rolled his eyes and transported them to one of his seals just outside the barrier. "We'll have to stay hidden in the trees until tonight."

"If we had found the seal, I could be back in town, enjoying myself with some of the lovely young women." Jiraiya said.

Minato playfully hit him. "Get some sleep, I'll keep first guard."

Jiraiya lay down and closed his eyes, but Minato could still here him grumbling about all the research he was missing. Minato shook his head. How could such an amazing shinobi also be such a big pervert?

oOoOo

The Sandaime had just stepped back into his office from visiting a shinobi at the hospital when an Anbu showed up in his office. "Yes?" He asked. The Anbu was most likely here with news of Naruto. How had that boy managed to fool them? Though he had been suspicious of the boy, he had still been disturbed to learn that he had been hiding something from them, and then his talented escape had proved that he was a lot more than a genin. Knowing that Naruto had managed to easily lose specially trained shinobi was frightening.

"We've been unsuccessful in finding a trace of Naruto. The shinobi guarding the gate never saw him exit, and he can't be found at all within the village. We searched within five miles of Konoha, and there isn't a hint at his presence. It seems he is long gone."

Long gone. But he had been in Konoha this morning. "Thank you." Hirozen dismissed the Anbu. He had suspected that if Naruto was hiding something that he would leave when he found out about the Sandaime's suspicion, but the Sandiame hadn't done anything but put a few Anbu in charge of keeping track of him. Other villages would've done the same, whether there was cause for suspicion or not. There was a war going on, they couldn't take any chances. Was it possible Naruto had found out about the blood test Kushina had requested? No, it had been a private matter, and he personally knew everyone involved in the testing. None of them would've mentioned it. So why? Why did Naruto suddenly leave? Why did he work on Minato's team for over a month and then leave before there was even any proof against him?

Why he left wasn't the only mystery of Naruto the Sandaime was pondering. Why had Naruto come? Was it only because of his relation to Minato? But then why had he lied about his strength? It was clear from his evading the Anbu that Naruto was more than a genin, or even a chuunin. Why did he claim to be a genin? Was it because he was afraid of what would happen if his strength was known? Everything Naruto ever did was questionable.

He hoped the answers would present themselves, because he was getting frustrated with the never ending questions. Maybe Naruto's teammates would know something more, even if it was just an offhand comment said by Naruto.

Hirozen sent out a shinobi to summon the three genin. As an afterthought, he also summoned Kushina. This situation involved Minato; therefore, it involved her as well. It seemed unlikely that Naruto would've slipped up and told one of the young genin about his plan, but at this moment it was his only lead. He sat back in his chair and waited for the four to show up. His paperwork could wait a few hours.

oOoOo

If he wasn't in such a rush to get to Iwa, Naruto might have found the dumbfounded stares funny. To anyone who might be looking, he was merely a yellow blur. Civilians who caught sight of him, just stared, wondering what could cause such a strange sight. Shinobi sensed the chakra, but none were fast enough to chase him. Knowing he didn't have a lot of time, he wasn't being trying to avoid being seen. It didn't matter much anyway; he wouldn't be in the past for much longer. No matter what it took, he wouldn't allow for people to start losing their lives over him.

It would be a bit into the night before he made it to the base Kyuubi had told him about. While in Kyuubi Mode, he didn't even have to worry about which direction he was heading, he simply let the Kyuubi lead him. The sun was setting when he crossed the border into Iwa.

**You should separate our chakra now. **

_No, we'll get there faster this way. Besides, it's not like any of them would be able to follow us. We're too fast for them._

**It's strange how easily we got in.**

_They don't expect someone could be as fast as we are. I don't think my dad has earned his nickname yet._

**There's still the Raikage. He's almost as fast as the Yondaime and you.**

_Yes, but what are the chances of the Raikage trying to infiltrate Iwa? Like the Hokage, he needs to be back in his hidden village, leading. He can't afford to attempt to sneak into another country._

The Kyuubi was silent. _Did I finally make a point you can't prove worng?_

**One out of two hundred. The odds are still in my favor.**

_I've been right more than once!_

**When else have you been right?**

_I was right about you being more than just a form of hatred._

**Don't get sentimental on me. I can easily go back to hating you.**

Naruto continued through the trees. **Slow down, we're close. **Naruto slowed his run. **Now, we need to separate our chakra. They'll detect you immediately, and we can only last a day with our chakra combined. We don't want a repeat of what happened a few weeks ago. **

_Right! No passing out. _

oOoOo

Obito had felt like something was off from the moment he was told the Hokage had summoned him. They were too close to the chunnin exams for it to be a mission, and they didn't have Minato to lead them either. They had already filled out all of their mission reports, and none of the chuunin exam forms were due yet.

When he walked into the office, he saw that Kakashi and the Sandaime were the only ones there. Kakashi glared at him when he entered. "You're not late." His tone was colder than Obito had ever remembered it being.

Obito shrugged. "It seems no one is in need of hero today."

Kakahi scoffed before turning to face the Hokage. He didn't say anything, all of them waiting for the other two to arrive. Kushina wasn't much later than Obito, with Rin following her through the door. The Hokage waited for all of them to be in the room and the door to be shut before he spoke up. "I have a few questions for each of you, but before I get to them, I will explain to you what is going on. Please do not interrupt me." He picked up a mug Obito hadn't noticed was sitting on the desk. He took a sip of the tea before continuing. "A few weeks ago, a stranger known as Naruto showed up in Konoha. We allowed him into Konoha, and assigned him to your team. However, I've been weary of him since. The circumstances surrounding his arrival were too strange to ignore.

"I've let him continue on you team, until I had proof of any suspicious activity on his part. There have been a few signs along the way, like his arm injury, which seemed to be self-imposed. This wasn't concrete enough, so we continued to let him stay in Konoha. More evidence was found against him today, and only minutes after that evidence was found, he went missing. It seems he is no longer in Konoha." The Hokage stopped here and looked all three of them in the eye. Obito's heart started racing, but he kept his face neutral. He was good at not showing his emotions.

The Hokage started again. "Have any of you noticed anything strange that Naruto has said or done? Anything that could tell us why he was here or why he left?"

Rin shook her head. "The injury to his arm was the only thing I ever noticed that was strange. Well, and the way he reacted when I asked him about it. I don't think it's a good memory."

The Hokage acknowledged her words, but moved on to Kakashi. He had already known about Naruto's arm. "He was no different than Obito."

Obito ignored the insult in Kakashi's comment. He didn't mind being like Naruto, in fact, it was the best compliment Kakashi had ever given him. And the only. The Hokage's eyes turned to Obito. Panic started to take over. What was he supposed to say? He hadn't suspected that anyone was on to Naruto's secret. Should he lie that he hadn't seen anything unusual, or make up a strange occurrence? Obito opened his mouth to deny seeing anything when another thought hit him. Earlier that day, Naruto had said goodbye. He hadn't actually said the words, but Obito knew that was the last time he was going to see Naruto. Naruto wasn't coming back. Smiling slightly to himself, Obito stared back into the Hokage's eyes. "Yes. I did see something unusual from Naruto. I confronted him about it too."

He had everyone's attention. Even Kakashi was staring at him, probably wondering how he had missed whatever Obito had seen. "I knew Naruto was hiding something from the moment I met him, there was just something about him that didn't seem true to me. During the second chuunin exam, I saw him use a powerful fire jutsu in order to stop an attack. Later I demanded he tell me how he could use fire jutsu, and he told me. He told me everything about him, including what he was doing in Konoha."

Obito knew he was in trouble, from the looks of the faces around him. He needed to hurry up. "He's from the future. He doesn't know how he was brought here."

The group stared at him. Kakashi was looking at him like he was stupid, Rin looked like she felt sorry for him, the Hokage seemed to be holding back a bit of laughter, and Kushina was different. She seemed to be mulling over his words. After a minute, her expression changed. "That's how he's related to Minato." She whispered.

She had figured out he was related to Minato? That shouldn't be surprising, considering how much they looked alike. The rest of the group was now staring at Kushina. "Yes." Obito answered. "That's how you are too." Naruto had never confirmed this, but Obito had seen enough evidence in the way Naruto acted to know this was true. Kushina seemed in shock from the words. Obito noticed she was seemed unsteady and went forward to help her to a chair.

The Hokage seemed to realize what was being said, but the other two were still in the dark. Kushina continued to stare at the wall in front of her. "He's my son."

**A/N: This was a hard chapter to write. I knew what I wanted to happen, I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't figure out how to write it. I sat down to write last week, and absolutely nothing came. Sorry it took me three weeks to get this chapter up. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I can't believe I got 50 for the last chapter alone, that's 14 more than any previous chapter. Thank you for reading my story, and please take a few seconds to send a review, even if it is only a "Nice chapter." I love hearing how people are enjoying my story. If you have any complaints, let me know, too. **


	20. Chapter 20

The room was quiet following Kushina's declaration. To everyone but Obito the idea that Naruto was somehow from the future was ludicrous. Even the Sandaime, who knew it was possible, was having a hard tme processing the truth in what Obito had told them. Kushina's breathing was erratic, and Obito had to wonder if she would faint. She struggled to catch her breath, but within a few moments she was composed enough to speak. "How can this be possible?" She spoke cautiously, like she was afraid to be hopeful.

Obito frowned. "I actually don't know how. When I talked to Naruto, he didn't even know."

Across the room, Kakashi glared at him. "Then he must have been lying to you. Only you would fall for a lie this stupid."

Obito turned to retort to Kakashi, but thought better of it. What good would fighting do? It wouldn't change Kakashi's mind. Instead he turned to the Sandaime. "Do you know of any way this could happen?"

All eyes turned to the Sandaime. His nickname of the Professor was well known, and if he didn't know of a way, then the others would assume there was none. He was silent, contemplating the question. "There is one way that I can think of." The group leaned forward at his words. Kushina still looked like she was fighting to keep her hope at bay. Obito couldn't understand why, but she really wanted Naruto to be telling the truth. "It could be a space/time jutsu, like Minato's Hiraishin. Potentially, a seal could be made to not only transport someone from one spot to another, but to send them from one time to another. In all my research, such a seal has never been found."

"But that doesn't mean one won't be made." Kushina spoke up. Obito looked at her. She looked calmer than she had a few seconds ago, and from what he could tell, it was genuine. "It's possible to make the seal, so who says it isn't done in the future."

As logical as Kushina was being, Obito knew that wasn't it. "I don't think the seal came from the future. Naruto didn't know what send him here, so I don't think it could've been from his end. What if someone recently created this seal?"

The Sandaime nodded. "That is possible. With this ongoing war, seal makers are looking for anything that would give them an advantage."

"But why Naruto? Even if he can use fire jutsu as well as water, I'm sure there were others who are more powerful than Naruto." Kakashi said. For the moment, he seemed to have forgotten his bitterness, and was focusing on solving the problem at hand.

Obito let out a nervous laugh. "Did I forget to mention that Naruto is the Rokudaime Hokage?" The shocked looks confirmed the answer. "Um, yeah, well, it's true.

Rin shook her head. "That can't be true, he's still a teenager. Who would trust a teenager to lead a village?"

Obito shrugged. "I don't know, but it's true."

Before Kakashi could object, the Sandaime spoke again. "If everything you've told us is true, then that still leaves us with a problem." At Obito's questioning look, the Hokage continued. "What I'm about to tell you is an S-Rank mission, so you cannot repeat what I am about to tell you. A few weeks ago there was a spike in the balance of chakra in the earth. I've sent messages to all of the hidden villages, asking who was responsible for this, and the only village that has not responded is Iwa. We can assume that Naruto caused the spike in chakra, but it also seems that Iwa is the one that summoned him."

"Even if he was brought here by Iwa, that doesn't mean he knew that. He could still be in the dark about the reason why." Kushina defended him. It appeared that she had decided to fully believe Naruto. Good, he needed someone else in his corner.

"Then why did Naruto leave?" The Sandaime asked. Kushina didn't answer. "He either just found out the truth, or he's known all along. We've underestimated him and have no idea what secrets he may know, or what side of the war he is on." The Sandaime called three Anbu into the room. "I want you to head to Iwa and track down the missing-nin Naruto." The Anbu didn't ask questions, only bowed and left the room in a puff.

"Missing-nin? Naruto's not a missing-nin!" Obito objected.

Kakashi smirked. "He left the village against the Hokage's order without a word, and his objective is unclear. That makes him a missing-nin."

"Kakashi-kun is right. You can get back to your training now, but," the Sandaime looked each of them in the eye, "You are not to leave this village. You will not go after Naruto." With that, the Sandiame dismissed them. Kushina stayed behind, speaking hurriedly to the Hokage.

Outside of the building, the sky was already dark. Obito thought about heading to bed, but he was far from tired. He would only lie awake and worry for Naruto. Obito was halfway down the steps before he heard Kushina calling after him.

"Obito!" He stopped on the steps and waited for her to catch up to him. "You said that Naruto told you everything about him. Can you tell me?"

Obito hesitated. He had taken a risk inside to show that Naruto wasn't an enemy, and it had backfired. What would telling Kushina do? "Why do you want to know?"

Her eyes were shining when she answered. "He's my son. I can't explain why, but I want to know everything there is to know about him. Already I'm wishing I had spent more time with him during your training."

Obito nodded slowly. At least this would give him something to do. He had already started forming a plan to leave the village, though he knew he was being watched. Talking with Kushina would keep him from becoming overwhelmed with worry for Naruto.

They started back down the steps. "Well, Naruto didn't tell me everything about himself, but I do know that he was a prankster while in the Academy." Kushina hung on his every word as he recounted the story Naruto had told him about painting the monument.

oOoOo

Minato was perched on a tree branch, waiting for the last of the shinobi's to exit the base. It had been a long day. With nothing to do but remain hidden, the hours had passed by slowly. It was finally dark outside and he was relieved to be getting back to work. They would have to undue several of the seals he had done the night before, plus he wasn't sure they would remember the exact path they had traveled. The winding passages were confusing to those unfamiliar with them.

Seeing the last of the shinobi leave, Minato let a few minutes pass before he entered the clearing. He had a good memory when it came to seals, and was able to get past the first one easily. Once inside the building, he relaxed. He hated being out in the open when trying to sneak around. He felt like an easy target when enemies could spot him so easily. Especially in their own territory.

He could barely hear the Sannin behind him, but a quick glance showed that Jiraiya was still close to him. It wouldn't be smart for them to separate. Jiraiya knew a bit about seals, but he would never be able to work through all of the ones in the caverns. And definitely not at the speed Minato was working. The silence around them had unsettled Minato the night before, but now he was thankful for it. He trusted Jiraiya to watch his back, and the silence allowed him to concentrate more on the task at hand.

The further they got into the base, the harder the seals became to undue. If they knew where they were going, then getting past the seals would be easy. They would only have to know the seals that opened the doors the needed to pass through. Since they didn't know where the seal they were looking for was, they were having to open as many doors as they coul. One door often led to a hallway with two or more doors, increasing the difficulty of their task. A few times he forgot which doors they had already gone through and if they led nowhere. A handful of the seals seemed unfamiliar as well. Minato couldn't believe the intricacy of Iwa's base. He knew their base in Konoha was nowhere near as complex as this.

They came to a hallway with three doors branching off of it. Minato remembered the hall. Last night he had taken the door in the center and it had led them down countless hallways before finally dumping them at a dead end. The door on the left had been their next option, and that was where they were when they had to leave early in the morning. He knew what would await them for the first several passages on the left, so he took a chance and started working on the right door. The seals seemed repetitive, each one likening to the ones that Minato remembered being on the left.

After what felt like hours, the hallway in front of them widened into a circular clearing. Five doors lined the walls.

"Which door should we take?" Jiraiya whispered behind him. Minato knew that Jiraiya must be getting a little anxious. The further they went into the base, the more likely it felt that they would get caught. Minato went up to one of the doors, and looked over the seal. It was one they had come across already, and he quickly opened the door. Instead of a hallway like Minato had suspected, this one led into a small room. The room had to be no larger than ten by ten, and it had only a desk and chair in it. The desk had a stack of empty papers on it. This had to be where some of the seals were made. Minato pulled out the drawer in the desk and rifled through the papers. They were all blank.

He left the room and went back to the clearing. The next seal was also familiar, and the door led to a hallway. Jiraiya took a step toward the door before Minato stopped him. "Not yet." Jiraiya looked at him quizzically. Instead of explaining, Minato headed to the next door. The seal on this one was similar to the others, but not a copy. After a minute he was able to break the seal and open the door. Another empty room. Behind him, Jiraiya looked like he wanted to question his actions, but he remained silent.

Minato looked at the seal for one of the remaining doors and saw that it was different from the rest. Before he got started on it, he looked over the other door and confirmed it was similar to the others. He went back to the fourth door. "This one is more complicated than the others." A lot more complicated. Studying the seal, Minato knew it would take the remainder of the night to get into the room.

Jiraiya looked unsure. "This one could waste all of our time. Are you sure this is right?"

Minato nodded. "So far, the seals have started to repeat themselves, which leads me to believe the knowledge they are protecting isn't the most important. This seal is by far the most difficult one we've come across in the past two days. You don't put a seal like this in place if you aren't trying to protect something. I doubt more than three shinobi are able to get past this seal."

"And you're going to try to break it in a few hours?" Despite his choice of words, Jiraiya didn't doubt him. He only felt it necessary to point out there circumstances.

"None of the Iwa shinobi are stupid enough to try and break into one of their own rooms. I don't think any of them have ever snuck in at night to try and break through the seal." Minato had already started making out the lines of the seal. He had to pause when a line ran over another, adding to the complexity.

"And you're sure this is where our seal will be?" Jiraiya had to hear that Minato was confident before he let them waste so much time.

Minato looked up from the seal. "I fully expect the seal we're looking for to be in here, and even if it's not, there has to be some good secret hidden away, if there's this complicated seal in place."

Jiraiya smiled. "Then you better get to work. I'm going to be watching the tunnels entrance."

Minato turned back to the seal. It was hard enough with the many symbols in the middle, but the lines zigzagging over one another made the seal seem impossible. He had no idea what the base of the seal was, and until he understood that, the seal would remain in place. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath before looked at the seal again. He would have to focus on one aspect of the seal at a time. Choosing to start with the middle symbol, Minato set to work. Slowly, he started to get more knowledge on the seal. Not only was it in place to keep the room locked, but it was also set up to act as a summons. If someone tampered with the seal incorrectly, a shinobi would be summoned to the spot. It made working on the seal tedious, since one mistake would give them away.

In the back of his mind he was aware of the time slipping by, but he chose to ignore the voice in his head telling him he was running out of time. He needed to focus on the seal and nothing else. Jiraiya was covering his back, and he trusted Jiraiya with his life. The seal was his only reality at that moment. An hour passed, then two, and still he kept working on the seal. When he had come across a seal that crossed lines twice, he had almost given up. It felt like he was unraveling one section, only to find that because of it, then next was even more tied up. He willed away the headache that was forming. Stopping for a break wasn't an option with the time they had left, so he took a deep breath and kept working.

When Jiraiya handed him a canteen of water, he took it without looking away. He handed the canteen back to Jiraiya and finished with another line. Only two more to go until he knew the seal entirely.

"The shinobi will be here in another thirty minutes." Jiraiya's warning startled Minato to the core. He knew the man was there, but it had been quiet for so long that the sudden noise had shocked him.

Minato took a second to look up from the seal. "I'm so close. I've been working on a counter for each problem I've come across. I should be done soon." Minato traced the line and looked at the one across from it. He nodded before moving on to the last line.

"I know you've almost got it, but we're going to be cutting it close. If we're caught now, there's no way we can get back in." Jiraiya reasoned.

"I know, but if I don't get this now, we would've wasted another day. We have no clue as to how long the world can remain out of balance before negative things start happening." Minato pulled a sheet of paper out of his pouch and began drawing. "It'll only take me twenty-thirty minutes to finish the seal. We'll get in and out before anyone makes it this far into the base."

"I hope you're right." Jiraiya looked over at Minato. Minato ignored him and kept at his drawing. True to his word, Minato finished the seal shortly after twenty minutes passed. Jiraiya looked proudly over at his student. "Let's see what's behind door number four."

Minato grinned and applied his counter seal on top of the original. He held his breath as he waited to see if he had made a mistake somewhere along the way. A second went by before the door clicked open. Minato pushed the door in and stepped into the room. Like the other rooms, this one was only decorated with a desk and chair, but unlike the others, the desk had several folders spread out on it. Minato walked over to the desk and picked up the first folder. Opening it, he saw a rough draft of a jutsu similar to his Hiraishin. He easily noticed the mistakes in the seal and put it back with a smirk. It would be a long time before they realized some of those mistakes. He and Jiraiya shuffled through the folder, taking what they thought to be dangerous. He had just opened a file about prolonging a lifespan, which Minato knew wouldn't work, when Jiraiya nudged him.

Minato read over the file in Jiraiya's hand. It looked like the formula to a space/time jutsu. The first one was incomplete, but there were several different drafts of it in the folder. The last one was complete and looked to focus more on time than space. "This looks to be it." Minato said. Jiraiya put the folder into his own weapons pouch. "We should finish looking through these before we leave. It wouldn't be wise to waste an opportunity to prevent our enemies from gaining some knowledge."

Minato picked up the one of the last folders on the desk. A loud _boom_echoed through the room, followed by the room shaking. Minato looked toward the door, half expecting to see shinobi rushing in. None where there and a quick fun into the clearing showed none on their way. "Grab the remained folders, and let's get out of here."

Jiraiya grabbed the folders, and took hold of Minato's arm. Within a second they were at the edge of the forest. From their vantage point in the trees, they could see a battle going on in the field. It looked like it was ten vs ten, but closer examination showed that the ten on one side all looked alike. Kage Bunshin. And the person using the Kage Bunshin was Naruto. Minato's heart dropped. What was Naruto doing here?

oOoOo

He had figured his journey had been going too smoothly. Why was it he could never get through one mission without something going wrong? It wasn't like he looked for trouble; it just naturally seemed to find him.

He had arrived in the middle of the night, but had chosen not to enter the base. He knew he still had a lot to learn about seals, and a quick search of the area showed him that Minato and Jiraiya were inside. He had been surprised at first, until he recalled their abrupt departure. The Sandaime must have known something was off, same as him. He had stayed in the trees, keeping watch over the entrance. Nothing had happened until the middle of the morning, when shinobi started showing up. He knew that Minato and Jiraiya would have trouble getting put undetected. The shinobi were stealthy, and could sneak up on them easily, especially if Minato was distracted.

So Naruto did what any good son would do. He caused a distraction so his father and godfather had a little more time. Hopefully they were able to find the right seal. He wasn't particularly enjoying having to fight ten strong shinobi while holding back so they don't know he's the one they summoned. It was quite draining and he was ready to get away. It would've been easy to kill them, but he didn't want Minato and Jiraiya to leave the base and find the dead bodies without an explanation. That would waste even more time. So he stalled. As soon as he had a sign that Minato and Jiraiya were out, he would use the Kyuubi's chakra to get out of there. It wouldn't matter if they knew then, he would be long gone.

An earth jutus used by one of the Iwa shinobi caused a landslide, resounding in a loud _boom!_ the earth shook for a second. Naruto used that time to move to the back of his grouping of Kage Bunshin. Using a water jutsu would end things quickly. He could knock the shinobi unconscious without having to kill them. His arm was feeling better, so it could work. He started the hand signs, hoping the justu would work. Water rose up from the ground and formed a giant wave. Naruto pushed the wave forward, smiling that the jutus was working. Pain sliced through his arm and the wave came crashing down. He didn't have time to get frustrated that the jutsu had failed, before the pain started spreading. The pain had always stayed isolated to his arm, but it was now working its way over the rest of his body. His knees became weak, and he fell to the ground. His eyes started closing, his body trying to find relief in unconsciousness.

Through his cracked eyelids, Naruto could see a yellow flash moving about the battlefield. The number of Iwa shinobi kept increasing, but the yellow blur kept going. One by one the Iwa shinobi fell. Though his vision was blurry, Naruto could clearly see that Minato was angry. At what he couldn't even begin to guess. Minato's anger must've been fueling him on, for only a minute later the battle was over. Sleep was still trying to take over, and Naruto found himself failing to fight it. His body was still in pain, and he was still shaking. Unconsciousness sounded like the best thing in the world. Naruto saw Minato's sandals as he approached, but that was the last thing he saw. He closed his eyes and let the blackness envelope him.

Manic laughter rang through his head.

**A/N: I'm sorry I took such a long time to update. I was planning on writing the chapter last week, but it ended up being a rough week. I was sick for almost an entire week, and to top that off, I got into a car accident. I've been working long hours to pay for the damage to my car. With this week being Spring Break, I don't get a day off, so I'm surprised I was able to get the chapter written. **

**I can't believe how fast this chapter got done once I actually sat down to write it. I usually write 1,000 words in an hour. Last night I wrote 3000 in two. The ending of the chapter was different and I didn't think it flowed well. It seemed a bit anti-climatic. AFter lying in bed and coming up with a better ending, I turned my laptop back on and changed the ending. Sadly, it was shortened by 300 words, but I think it was worth it for the better ending. This is going to easily transition into the next chapter, which should not take a month to update.**

**To explain how I picture the seal base: There are many hallways, each with several door off of them. The seals act like keys. In the same way only the specific key can unlock the door, only the right counter seal can unlock the door. I hope that prevents any confusion.**

**Lastly, I can't believe how many reviews I got for the previous chapter: 103! I was surprised when I got over thirty for one of the chapters, so this shocked me. It's just awesome. Thank you guys for reviewing, I appreciate it a lot. **

**Let me know how you liked or disliked this chapter.**


	21. Chapter 21

Panic settled into Naruto's stomach as he realized his mistake. He had allowed himself to fall asleep. In his desire to escape the physical pain, he had forgotten about the scene awaiting him behind closed eyes. The laughter sounded louder than it had previously, and there seemed to be a hysterical edge to it he couldn't recall hearing before. Surrounding him were the same horrible sights as always. He didn't want to move forward, but he didn't have a choice. His feet were taking him through the woods, to the very sight he had tried to avoid.

He willed himself to wake up, but failed. While the Kyuubi was gone he had been able to wake up before the dream continued past his arrival, and once Kyuubi was back the dream was blocked. He continued to move forward and he knew. This was it. For the first time in two years he would see this dream to the end. There was no waking up from this. Naruto swallowed before stepping into the clearing. The laughing man was in front of him now, his face visible. For years he had been trying to deny this man's identity, trying to remember him as someone other than this, but the evidence was right before his eyes. As he took another step closer, the man stopped laughing and merely smirked.

"So this is where we meet again?"

Naruto stared at the man before him, the man he had always held out hope for. "This is where it ends, Sasuke."

oOoOo

Jiraiya stared at Minato as he stared at Naruto. It was well into the afternoon, and Minato had decided they should rest in a small inn along the way to Konoha. Rest wasn't really needed, but Minato claimed that Hiriashin wouldn't be good for Naruto in his current state. Jiraiya wouldn't say anything right now, but a part of him suspected that Minato knew Naruto would be in trouble for coming and he wanted to figure out why first.

Jiraiya couldn't help but have some sympathy for the kid. He had helped them in their escape, and now seemed to be in pathetic shape. His body was tense and he was covered in sweat. The poor kid had been outmatched, yet he had continued to fight to help them. Naruto was a fool, though he seemed a genuine one. Despite his apprehension about the boy, Jiraiya allowed Minato to wait for him to wake.

Minato had baffled him as well. He had known that Minato trusted the kid, but he hadn't expected the anger. If Kakashi, Rin, or Obito were in danger, Minato would've been worried for them, but he never would've reacted so angrily. What had caused Minato to lose it? Jiraiya thought back to the moments after Naruto passed out. Minato had approached the boy and quickly checked him for wounds, when he found none he had lifted the boy onto his back, despite Naruto being nearly the same height as him. Jiraiya had offered to carry Naruto, but Minato had refused. Since, he hadn't let the boy out of his sight.

Jiraiya had suspected back in Konoha that Minato trusted Naruto too much, that he was getting too attached, and it seemed now that the pieces were falling together. There were only a handful of people the Jiraiya would respond that violently to being in danger, Minato being one of them. And for every one of them it was the same reason: they were family. Did Minato count Naruto as family? It wouldn't be surprising. Naruto looked enough like Minato that they _could _be related somehow.

Still, Jiraiya wished they would move on. The inn they were staying at was on the lower end of class, and Jiraiya didn't want to risk losing the seal. They needed to get back to Konoha to figure out what it was and what it did. Jiraiya went back to staring at Minato. His back was erect in a way that would bother him later, but for now, Minato seemed oblivious to anything but Naruto. If the kid didn't wake up soon, Jiraiya would have to drag them both out before they were caught.

oOoOo

For years, Naruto had been hoping that Sasuke would return to Konoha. That things would return to the way they were before the chuunin exams. Even when Sasuke had tried to kill B, Naruto had still held out hope that he could be saved. But that was the thing about hope, it doesn't change anything. Many people claim to have hope, but in the end, all hope does is keep you from facing reality. That your best friend is gone. That the one person you've been working to save for three years doesn't want to be saved. That no matter how many times you say that you'll bring him back, you always leave off the part that you probably won't be alive to bring him back. Because then people have hope. As long as they don't know what going to happen, they can hope for the best.

But Naruto knew what was going to happen. One of them, and probably both were going to die.

Naruto knew better than to stare directly into Sasuke's eyes, but he couldn't stop himself from looking over Sasuke. Though his physical appearance was the same, there was something different about Sasuke. His body was rigid and from the quick scan of his face that Naruto did, his eyes were cold. "I'm going to ask again; please come home, Sasuke! Come back to Konoha, we can work everything out later, but please come home." Naruto tried to keep his voice even, but he sounded desperate.

Sasuke chuckled. "Come back? All that's waiting for me in Konoha is death."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue back, but Sasuke was gone. Naruto took a step towards Sasuke's previous spot. A whirling sound behind him gave him enough time to dodge the kunai coming to his back. Naruto spun around, drawing his own kunai. He scanned the woods for a sign of Sasuke, but the forest was empty. Sasuke was neither on the ground, nor in the trees. Naruto jumped onto a branch as Sasuke broke through the ground. "I see you've learned to think a little, Naruto. I'm surprised; I didn't expect that of a dead-last."

Naruto fought the desire to charge him straight on. Doing so would only end with him getting hurt. Sasuke's sword was better than his own kunai's, which meant a head on attack wouldn't be smart.

_Thinking things through now, kit? I have to agree with the Uchiha, I didn't think I'd see the day._

Ignoring Kyuubi's comment, Naruto withdrew a tag from his weapon's pouch, eyeing Sasuke the entire time. Why wasn't he moving? Naruto wrapped the tag onto his kunai and threw it at Sasuke. He didn't budge as the kunai landed on the branch he was on and exploded. The Sasuke in front of him disappeared in a puff.

When had Sasuke had time to create a clone? Now wasn't the time to figure that out, all he needed to do was keep his focus on his surroundings. Sasuke could be anywhere. Not wanting to waste time, Naruto bit his thumb and formed the hand seals to summon Gamabunta. The seal appeared on the ground before disappearing and leaving a toad in its wake. "Do you have any snacks?"

Naruto groaned as Gamatatsu stared at him. Why could he never get the jutsu right? Light and heat came rushing forward. Naruto grabbed Gamatatsu and hopped onto a higher branch as the flames licked the trees below. Sasuke came running forward, already forming another jutsu. Naruto placed the small toad down and rushed to Sasuke straight on. As Sasuke finished the hand seal, Naruto side stepped and completed his own hand seal, sending a gust of wind towards Sasuke. He was pushed back slightly nut didn't lose his balance like he should've. Sasuke sent a succession of fireballs towards him. Naruto dodged the first two before getting burned by the third.

Naruto didn't stop as he formed a wind blade. Sasuke used fire to propel himself above the blade. The wind from the blade caught the fire, causing the fire to increase in size. Wind vs. Fire was going to be a hard battle to win. This would be a different battle if Naruto had decided to learn water jutsu before starting small fire jutsu's. His fire wouldn't be strong enough to fight Sasuke's. Sasuke used the momentum from the fire to push himself closer to Naruto. Sasuke drew his sword and struck towards Naruto's side. Naruto raised a kunai to stop the sword, but the blade still cut his wrist. Naruto cursed as he remembered that it was the incorrect way to stop the sword. He pulled his hand back to keep the cut from deepening and tried to form a wind jutsu, but the pain in his wrist prevented it. Sasuke was still attacking with the sword, giving Naruto no option but to duck and try to get away.

His hand would only take a minute to heal, but he needed to survive the onslaught first. Sasuke was gaining on him, when Naruto saw a small yellow object fly past him. Naruto wanted to immediately turn around to check on Gamatatsu, but he knew the toad was trying to give him time to escape. Naruto looked over his hand, it was well enough to use once again. He quickly made twenty shadow clones, sending them each in different directions. Naruto jumped onto the top branch of one of the trees, giving him a good enough vantage point to see everything. Sasuke was nowhere in sight, so Gamatatsu must have succeeded in distracting him. Naruto tried not to think of what might have happened to the toad. He had always been so lazy, always complaining about being hungry, that Naruto was surprised he had done something to fight. Hopefully he knew what he was doing.

_Do you know what you are doing?_

**Of course I do! I'm fighting Sasuke, and I'm going to stop him!**

_So what's your plan?_

…**I'm making it up as I go along.**

_It seems more to me like you're hiding. _

Indignation rose within Naruto. _**Hiding? **_**I'm trying not to get myself killed before I can stop him!**

_You've never cared before. You always rush head first into a fight, and as much as I hate to say it, that seemed to be working better for you. At least you were never running scared._

**I'm not running scared. Sasuke's different from any of the others. He's smarter, and he has the sharingan, which is dangerous even if I don't look him in the eye. He can read my movements and react before I even make them.**

_Do not worry about genjutsu, I can help keep your mind free. And he may be able to read your movements, but he couldn't read 'ours.'_

Naruto nodded. **How long will we be able to fuse our chakra together?**

_We haven't practiced it much at all, so probably only a few minutes. You need to use that time wisely. _

A blur to his left told Naruto that Sasuke was here. He drew upon the Kyuubi's chakra, but it took several seconds before their bond was formed. Sasuke shot several firebombs at Naruto, who used wind to blow the fire back. Sasuke dodged, but Naruto saw the edge of his shirt catch fire. Not giving Sasuke time to recover, Naruto made the signs and send a wave of dust towards Sasuke. The dust got into Sasuke's eyes, temporarily blinding him. The connection between him and Kyuubi was complete.

Naruto was by Sasuke's side in a flash. He used the Kyuubi's limbs to help him form a rasengan, which he thrust towards Sasuke's abdomen. The hit connected and Sasuke grunted in pain as he was shoved backwards into a tree. Naruto followed up with a second rasengan. Naruto was thrown back with such a great force, he nearly lost his breath. Looking up, he saw that Sasuke had summoned his Susanoo.

A normal shinobi would be intimidated by the violet demon surrounding Sasuke, but Naruto hardly cared. He knew that Susanoo was powerful, but dwelling on that wasn't going to help. He needed a way to stop Sasuke. Naruto jumped and rolled when a fireblast was sent his way. Naruto looked down when he felt the ground beneath him move. White snakes were slithering over the branches. He moved and used a wind cutting technique to cut the snakes in half. They hissed before their bodies disappeared in a puff.

A yellow dot distracted Naruto for a minute. He breathed a sigh of relief to see Gamatatsu okay. Well, the poor toad looked pretty beat up, but he was alive. Naruto wanted to get closer to inspect him some more, but a bolt of lightning struck him in the leg. Naruto cried out in pain and he grasped his leg. Another shot out toward him, but Kyuubi used his arms to block it. Naruto straightened up. He and Kyuubi had already combined their chakra, but they were definitely not working together.

**We need to make a plan.**

_Sasuke can hold Susanoo longer than we can our bond, but the Susanoo will drain Sasuke. Unlike out bond, Sasuke's causes him pain. We need to do everything we can to weaken Susanoo for when our bond breaks._

**And how do we do that? Direct hits don't do anything against it.**

_Not true. Every hit is a strike against their bond, causing Sasuke to be in more pain. If we can get Sasuke hurt enough to end Susanoo, you can finish him._

They had already been working together for four minutes, so they probably only had a short time left. Naruto charged forward, creating four shadow clones. The first two stepped forward to ward of the oncoming attacks, while the other two stood behind him. Naruto quickly made a Rasengan, using the two behind him to manipulate its nature. Despite not being in Sage Mode, Kyuubi's chakra allowed him to still throw the Rasen-shurikan. The wind shurikan was too fast for Sasuke to avoid. Susanoo blocked Sasuke's body from a direct hit, but the force behind the shurikan was enough to knock Sasuke down. Naruto didn't waste time in throwing another, this one catching the top of Susanoo and pushing it back.

The demon seemed to be growing angrier, but Sasuke looked to be struggling. He was bent over and panting. Naruto could see that Sasuke's eye was twitching. He was struggling to keep the Susanoo up.

_Just a little bit more._

Naruto sent a third rasen-shurikan at Sasuke. Not waiting for it to even connect, Naruto formed the hand seals for a new jutsu: Atsugai. The air around Sasuke compressed and quickly built up pressure. Naruto made sure the pressure stayed focus on the ground around Sasuke. The pressure built up until Naruto couldn't hold it any longer. Wind and compressed air compacted and Naruto was thrown off his feet. It took several seconds to die down. Naruto could feel his own bond with Kyuubi ending. He had never used Atsugai before and it had exhausted the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto felt weakened as he glanced over the arm h had been using to shield his face. Sasuke was just standing up, his Susanoo gone. Both of their greatest techniques were used, leaving both of them tired. This wouldn't last much longer.

Naruto struggled to his feet, his legs almost giving out on him. He took a wobbly step forward, trying not to fall. He kept moving forward, grabbing tree branches to keep himself upright. He didn't have much strength in him. He needed to stall long enough to give him body time to recover. "Why are you doing this?

Sasuke glared at him, panting. It would seem Sasuke was out of strength as well. "Why? I told you, to avenge my brother. Itachi was banished and considered a traitor to Konoha, when everything he did was for it."

"Itachi loved Konoha! He would never wish for you to destroy it." Naruto yelled.

"The elders need to pay for what they did, and if I have to take down Konoha in the process, then I gladly will." Sasuke's voice was cold. To a stranger, it would seem that Sasuke truly did not care for the civilian lives that would be lost, but Naruto could see the truth. Sasuke still hadn't shut off all of his emotions; his ties with Konoha weren't severed yet.

"Destroying Konoha wouldn't be avenging Itachi. You're only looking for your own revenge." Naruto yelled, his voice increasing in volume. "You think it'll make you feel better? Do you really think wiping out Konoha and killing hundreds of innocent people will make you feel better? Will make Itachi's banishment and death less painful?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped towards his. His glare was deadly, and he was probably trying to use a genjutsu, which the Kyuubi was preventing. Naruto used the opportunity to take a closer look at Sasuke. His body was still shaking slightly, so he was still recovering. He looked angry and bitter, but Naruto could see the hint of pain in his eyes. Sasuke was trying his best to stop the pain by using it to fuel his anger. But Naruto was bringing that pain to the surface. "You can't keep living in the past. Itachi killed the Uchiha clan, Sasuke, but he did it out of love for Konoha, and for you! This plan that you have is only dishonoring him!"

Naruto barely saw Sasuke move. One second he was there, the next he was charging. Sasuke had never been one charge into a fight head on, so Naruto's words must have angered him to the point of recklessness. Naruto reacted quickly. He summoned a shadow clone and started forming rasengan. Sasuke already had chidori formed and was heading for a head on fight. Naruto made his next move without thinking. He used the shadow clone to make another. The second clone got to working, changing the nature of his rasengan. He didn't have the time for Sage Mode and he didn't have the strength for molding with the Kyuubi. He wouldn't be able to throw the rasen-shurikan.

Kakashi's words range in his head as he met Sasuke. _Tsunade has forbidden you from using that jutsu. The Rasen-shurikan is powerful, but it's harming you as well. She was able to heal your arm this time, but the next time, you won't be as lucky._ The two fists collided. A flash of white light blinded Naruto to all but Sasuke. His eyes were wide open as the jutsu's connected. Unlike the previous two times they had fought like this, Naruto didn't stop when their fists connected. Pain flared up his arm, but he ignored it, pushing the shurikan closer to Sasuke. The light grew brighter, blocking even Sasuke from his sight.

Naruto closed his eyes as the light became too bright to continue to see. The momentum from his attack threw him to the ground.

Naruto opened his eyes to the air clearing of dust. How much time passed, he didn't know. He pushed himself up to his knees, his body feeling too weak to stand. Looking over he saw Sasuke lying on the ground. Panic overcame Naruto. Sasuke was okay right? Surely the jerk had survived the blast. Naruto used his hands to crawl over to the body lying in the center of a crater. Naruto couldn't stop the tears as his mind recognized the sight before him. Sasuke was lying completely still, not breathing. Of course he wouldn't survive the attack, it had wiped out _two_ of Kakuza's lives. Naruto couldn't stop the tears, he was supposed to die as well! That was what he told Sasuke when they had last met. He punched the ground in anger, pain shooting throughout his arm. Naruto glanced down, becoming aware of the throbbing in his arm. Blood was trailing down it, the skin cut up and destroyed.

Standing, Naruto made the hand signs to create a shadow clone. The pain became worse, but nothing happened. Good, at least he didn't make it out unscathed.

oOoOo

Naruto's eyes opened wide and he gasped for air. Minato was at the side of the bed in an instant. Naruto was sweating and breathing hard, and at that moment, all he needed was someone to tell him everything was okay. He had murdered his best friend, and for the past two years had been trying to live in denial. He had been holding onto the past, the same thing he had accused Sasuke of doing. Minato wrapped an arm around his shoulder, trying to give him comfort. Without thinking, Naruto leaned into the touch, seeing the comfort given. How could he have killed his best friend? Naruto sobbed. He may have been Hokage, but he was only nineteen and he needed to know his father wasn't disappointed in him. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I'm so sorry."

Minato stiffened beside him. "What did you call me?"

**A/N: Well, I'm alive. I'm sorry that it took me so long to update. Do not worry, I said I would finish this story, and I will. Even after two months, I still knew I was going to come back. At first I was just busy, I was working a lot of hours and was tired from that, then I was in the middle of moving and I didn't have time to write. In the end, I had put it off for so long that when I had finally sat down to write this chapter, I could only get 800 words in before getting stuck.**

**I was looking forward to this chapter, but as soon as I got to the beginning of his fight with Sasuke, I drew a blank. I am in no way an expert on fight scenes, and since I wanted it to be good, I stopped writing so that I could think on it. I still don't really like the scene, but it's the best I've got.**

**Thank you for everyone who reviewed and checked in on the story for updates. I appreciate it all so much, in fact dvd142's review is what got me to start writing this week. I am going on a mission trip next week, so I won't have any chance to write before then, and I'm still in the middle of moving, so the next chapter isn't going to be immediately. Please have patience with me and know that I am going to finish this.**

**Thank you for reading and please review to let me know how the chapter was. **


	22. Chapter 22

"I hope Naruto and Minato get back soon. I have so many questions for them." Kushina said from her spot at the table. She and Obito were sitting at her kitchen table. A plate of pastries sat untouched in the middle of the table. It hadn't taken long to retell Kushina all of what Naruto had told him. "Does Minato know?"

Obito shook his head. "Naruto had no intention of telling anyone. He's worried that his presence could change things in the future."

For the first time since they started talking, Kushina looked worried. "I hadn't thought about that. It's true, isn't it? Naruto isn't supposed to be here, so what will his presence change? It's probably already changed a few things." Kushina seemed to think on that.

The silence stretched on and Obito couldn't help the yawn that escaped him. Kushina noticed and said she had kept him to long. "I enjoy being here. You and Minato-sensei are my family."

Kushina smiled at his words. "You can sleep on the couch over there. I'll get you a few blankets." Obito walked over towards were she was pointing. It wasn't a large couch, but he was just happy to be someplace where he felt he belonged. Kushina returned with the blankets and then disappeared for the night. She was probably going to be up late. A lot had happened in the past few hours, for all of them. Obito doubted anyone on his team would get a good night's rest that night. Except Kakashi. He probably didn't care who Naruto was. Obito thought back on all the things Naruto had told him, about his friends and his position as Hokage. The longer Obito lied down and recounted the tales, the more he came to realize that he barely knew Naruto.

He knew that Naruto was Minato and Kushina's son. He knew that Naruto was Hokage. Naruto had told him several things about friends of his and such. He had heard about the chuunin exams and Naruto traveling with his friends. But what else did he know? A small thing here or there, but what was Naruto's life really like? How did he manage to become Hokage at nineteen?

Obito rolled onto his side on the couch, why were all of Naruto's answers sounding so vague now? He had thought Naruto was sharing his past with him, but now every story seemed to be just the surface level, like there was more going on behind the scenes that Naruto wasn't willing to share. Obito shifted again on the couch. Why though? Naruto said he had nothing to hide, that he wasn't there to harm the village, and Obito trusted that. So why wouldn't he tell him more? Maybe it was just to keep the future safe. The less they knew about what was coming, the better, right?

As Obito turned onto his other side a new thought came to him_. "My childhood was kinda like yours. I was different, so people treated me badly." _Obito sat up, startled. He had been so wrapped up in the cool things Naruto had told him that he had forgotten a part of Naruto's first recollection. Naruto had said that the people of Konoha didn't want to him to be a shinobi, but that the Hokage had overruled them. Pulling a few pranks wouldn't have the shinobi wishing for Naruto to not become one. So what did? And what of the sadness that appeared in Naruto's eyes when he admitting to Minato being his father? Plus there was no way Minato would let anyone treat Naruto poorly.

Obito tried to stop his brain from reaching the conclusion, but he couldn't. There was no escaping the truth that danced around his mind. At some point in the future, Minato was going to die. A few tears escaped Obito's eyes. _Minato-sensei's not dead yet. We probably have years to figure out how to change things. We could prevent Minato-sensei's death._ Two more thoughts crashed into Obito at once. The first being that if Naruto was Minato's son then why did everyone hate him? What could Naruto have possibly done as a child to get everyone to treat him badly? The second thought was of something Naruto had said. He wasn't telling anyone about himself because he was afraid of what might happen in the future.

Naruto wasn't trying to save Minato.

oOoOo

Naruto had often been accused of having a blank mind, and right this second it would be true. He knew that there had to be a good excuse, a way to explain his statement away, but his mind could only think that he had just called Minato "dad." Naruto didn't say anything, in hopes that Minato would think he hadn't been referring to him. Besides, it was impossible, right? Naruto was just a few years younger than Minato, making it impossible for him to be his son. Surely his mind wouldn't even consider time travel.

"Naruto, I have a question for you." The statement came from Jiraiya. Up until that point, Naruto had forgotten he was in the room. He looked over his shoulder to where Jiraiya sat near the window. The sannin looked to be contemplating things, his face drawn in concentration. After a minute he looked up and caught Naruto's eye. Despite the circumstances, Naruto felt a pang of sorrow wash over him. How he missed the ero-sennin! Jiraiya glanced over a Minato, before he placed his gaze back on Naruto. "What year where you born?

Naruto gulped. He knew the look in Jiraiya's eyes. He knew. Naruto didn't know how he figured it out, but Jiraiya clearly knew. Beside him, Minato stared at Jiraiya. "Why would you ask him that in the middle of all this?"

Jiraiya said nothing as he waited for Naruto's answer. Could he tell them the truth? He had planned on not telling anyone to prevent the future from changing, but hadn't it already? Jiraiya had told him tales about his missions, and he never mentioned this one. Naruto looked at Minato again, and then Jiraiya. Did his presence in the past change their future? Once they examined the seal they would know it was used for time travel, and in order to get back to his own time, he would have to have them find a way to reverse it. They would have found out eventually. Swallowing, Naruto caught Minato's eye as he cautiously said the year. "276 S.E."

Minato's eyes widened. He looked to be connected dots in his mind. Naruto caught a glimpse of Jiraiya out of the corner of his eye. He slowly nodded his head. "Then you are from the future."

oOoOo

Minato's mind was going a hundred miles a minute. 276 S.E.? That was a few years from now, which would mean Naruto came from almost 25 years in the future.. If Naruto was from the future, then how did he get here? Naruto seemed to have read his mind. "The seal you were sent to grab. I believe that's what brought me here. I also believe it's my only way back."

_I'm so sorry, Dad._ Dad. Naruto was from the future; Naruto looked so much like him; Naruto called him dad. Minato felt dizzy, suddenly short of breath. He looked over at Naruto, taking in every detail. Naruto's hair was the same as his, but he kept it to a shorter length. Naruto had his color eyes, but the shape was different, more like Kushina's. The whisker marks caught his eye. He had noticed them before, but he had never really thought about them. Where they scars or birthmarks? Could it be the result of being born of a Jinchuuriki. Minato had no doubt that Kushina was the boys' mother. He smiled despite the situation. Naruto's attitude should've been enough to tell him that this was Kushina's son.

Minato had never felt the need to know everything about someone before, but he wanted to drill Naruto until he knew everything that had happened to him. How did his son get to be nineteen and still be only a genin. Maybe he hadn't cared about being a shinobi. What else had Naruto told them? He had said he left his village out of a political disagreement, but that was probably a lie. How many other lies had Naruto told them?

"If this seal is the reason you've been brought here, then the question I gave is why?" At least Jiraiya was thinking. Minato was too busy processing to really think about what was currently going on. From what they'd been told, this seal was created by Iwa and the result was an increase in chakra. But why would bringing Naruto to the past increase chakra?

Naruto sighed. "It's a long story, but I'll try to make it as short as possible." Minato fought the urge to tell him to give as much detail as possible. That wasn't what was important now. Naruto seemed to be struggling with what to say.

"Why don't you just start with telling us about your life. We have a little bit of time." Minato looked over at Jiraiya, silently thanking him. Naruto couldn't stay here for much longer and Minato could think of letting his _son_ go without knowing more about him.

Naruto smiled a little. "I was a prankster. Half the village hated me because I was always causing trouble. I'm not the smartest person, so I get out of the academy until I was twelve. Then I was put on a team with Sasuke and Sakura. I was happy to be on a team with Sakura-chan, but I hated that idiot Sasuke. He was the number one in our class and everyone loved him. Oh, and Kakashi was my sensei." That shocked Minato. He had never imagined Kakashi as being a sensei. He wasn't the type to deal with kids. "Kakashi had never passed anyone before, but we passed. Then we went on a C-rank mission and it turned into an A-rank mission and…"

"Why don't you skip ahead a bit?" Jiraya prodded.

Naruto dared to glare at him. "Fine, then Sasuke left the village with Orochimaru and I left the village to train with you. Three years later I came back and we tried to rescue Sasuke and failed. Then Kabuto brought dead people back to life and there was a war and Tobi was bent on taking over the world. But we stopped him and I became Hokage. Was that fast enough for you?"

Jiraiya and Minato stared at him with slack jaws.

"Who's Kabuto?" Jiraiya asked.

"Hokage?" Minato asked at the same time. Naruto, the boy who's claimed to a nineteen year old genin, the boy who'd barely been able to perform water jutsu's, though he did excel at times, was a Hokage? Just what else had Naruto been hiding? Also, Naruto being a Hokage would mean he was powerful enough to be useful. Maybe Iwa had brought him back and planned to brainwash him to help them.

"If you had let me tell the entire story you wouldn't have any questions." Naruto smiled.

"Naruto," Minato began, "How much chakra do you have?"

Naruto froze. It was several beats before he answered. "Depends on the time, to be honest. There are times when I have a little bit more than average, and there are times when my chakra increases by a lot."

"Can you control when it increases?" Jiraiya asked.

"Sometimes. I used to not be able too, but I've been working on it and have better control now." Naruto's answer was slow.

As much as he wanted to get to know his son, they needed to send Naruto back to his time, and soon. Minato thought about what was waiting for Naruto back at the village. The Sandaime would probably throw him in a cell for coming after them. No, they needed to do this now. Minato stood up from his spot. His legs ached in protest from having been sitting for so long. He made his way over to the pouch and opened it. The seal was carefully placed on the side. He withdrew it and made his way over to the other two. "We need to figure out how to send Naruto back now. Once we get to the village we won't have a chance."

Naruto and Jiraiya agreed. Minato was pleased that Jiraiya was going along. He had been afraid that he might insist they return to the village now. It would take them a while to work through the seal, but with two seal masters, it would be faster.

oOoOo

Without any missions to complete, Kakashi felt bored. He was currently walking the streets of Konoha, and if you were to ask a bystander, moping. With Minato gone he hadn't really spoken with anyone, and he had to admit, he wanted to talk. Kakashi's walk led him by the cemetery. Looking in, he noticed several shinobi sitting around tombstones and talking. Kakashi smirked at their stupidity. They were speaking to the air and nothing more. The dead couldn't hear and answer.

Kakashi kept going until he passed a book store. He had never been much for reading, but maybe there was a book with new techniques to learn. He slowly made his way down the aisles. None of the titles stood out. He kept going and noticed that all of the books started to be labeled 'adult.' He paused wondering what would make a book an 'adult' book. Curiosity got the better of him and he reached over to grab it. He had only read the first page when the store owner caught him and snatched the book, telling him to go back over to the kids section. Kakashi was too red in the face to do anything but comply.

oOoOo

Minato groaned as he pulled rolled up the used paper and grabbed a new one. It has been two days since they'd started this dissecting the seal. He had figured out most of it, but there were two lines intersecting that he'd not seen before. He wished Kushina had been able to teach him some of the Uzumaki's seals, but they hadn't had the time to. Eventually Jiraiya and he had concluded that they would have to proceed with starting a counter seal anyway. If Naruto's presence was the one making the difference in the shinobi world's chakra levels, then they needed to send him back immediately.

Though it was serious work, Minato couldn't help but be glad for the time he'd spent with his son. It was such a strange idea to get used to that the teenager in front of him was his son, but the idea fit. He knew that after he and Kushina were married that he would want to have a child, but he had never put much thought into it. From there previous mission and their training together, Minato had expected it to be hard for Naruto to stay focused. He was surprised when Naruto remained mostly quiet, only speaking to make an observation on a line. He clearly knew more about seals than an average shinobi. But wasn't a Hokage expected to be above average, even extraordinary.

Naruto hadn't talked any more about the future since his hurried explanation two days ago. Minato was dying to ask how things were, but he understood. The less they knew about the future, the better. Still, he had to know one thing. He remembered the way Naruto had tensed the first day he asked, and he was hesitant to cause the same reaction. But his mind wouldn't let the thought go. "Naruto." He waited while the boy finished with the line his was examining and looked up. "I asked you this once and you didn't answer, but I can't let it go. What happened to your arm? I know it was caused by a powerful jutsu, which makes more sense now that I know you've been fooling us with your poor water jutsu performances."

He waited for Naruto to flinch or draw back the way he had that first day, but instead he smiled slowly. "I wasn't faking being bad at water jutsu's. Water isn't my natural affinity."

Minato temporarily forgot his original question. "It isn't your affinity? What is then?"

Naruto smiled. "Wind. I've also learned fire jutsu's."

"So you've been trying to learn a third element this entire time? Wow, three elements, that's incredible." It was. Minato couldn't think of another person he knew of that could control three different elements.

"Thanks, Dad." Minato caught his breath. It was the first time since Naruto had 'apologized' that Naruto had called him dad. He couldn't explain the feelings that stirred within him. This was his son. Maybe not right now, but at some time in the future, he was going to be raising this child. He and Kushina did a good job.

"And my arm injury hadn't bothered me in a while. It caught me off guard when it suddenly did." Naruto hadn't forgotten Minato's question. Minato was pleased that he wasn't avoiding the topic.

"How did it get injured? Was it from one of those times you couldn't control your chakra?" Minato asked cautiously.

Naruto's grin dropped. "No. It happened two years ago in one of the last battles of the war." Naruto looked out the window. "The teammate that I mention, Sasuke, he found out that his brother had been used by some shinobi in Konoha and he vowed to avenge him. He was determined to destroy Konoha and I knew it had to be me to stop him. We had always had a rivalry, and we had fought a few times before. I knew before going into the fight that both of us where going to die, but for some reason I didn't. The injury to my arm was my last jutsu against him. I found a way to combine wind-natured chakra into rasengan and it was powerful, but without the extra chakra I ended up injured as well."

Minato didn't know what to say to that. "What happened to Sasuke?" He hated having to ask Naruto to say it out loud, but something told him Naruto never had before.

Naruto stared at the ground for a few minutes before answering. "He was killed. I killed him." When Naruto looked up Minato could see the tears he was fighting to hold in. Naruto's voice broke as he spoke. "He was my best friend."

Minato didn't think, he just pulled Naruto into his arms. He wished he had the power to stop his pain, but he knew he couldn't. Naruto didn't sob, but he couldn't hold back a few tears. Minato glanced over the boys head at Jiraiya, who had remained silent during their conversation. The man looked torn. Minato look must have given his confusion away, for Jiraiya held up a page with a new version of the seal on it. It was complete.

Naruto pulled himself away from Minato and wiped at his eyes. He must've caught the glances between Minato and Jiraiya because he was then staring at the seal. Minato took the seal from Jiraiya and slowly examined it. It wasn't perfect, it couldn't be unless they knew what that one line meant, but it was good enough to work. If they had more time, Minato would've suggested fixing it, but Naruto had been there too long. It was impossible that Naruto's presence hadn't changed a thing and they couldn't risk more. "This'll work." Minato announced for Naruto's benefit.

The kid seemed relieved. Minato wanted to feel hurt that he was happy to leave, but he understood. This wasn't Naruto's world, plus they would get to know him eventually. They would just have to wait a bit. Naruto grabbed one of the blank sheets and wrote on it. After a few minutes he folded it and handed it to Minato. "Please give this to Obito. And please tell the others I said goodbye." Minato nodded. What more could he do? He put the paper in his pocket.

Minato stood in the center of the room, Jiraiya beside him and Naruto across from him. Slowly he started the hand signs. _Dog, snake, pig, dog…_ It happened in a flash. One second Naruto was there and the next he was gone. Minato swallowed the lump in his throat. Weren't goodbyes supposed to be drawn out? But no, this wasn't goodbye; he would see Naruto again in just a few years. He couldn't wait to meet his son again.

oOoOo

"Wake up, Naruto!" The voice was familiar, but Naruto couldn't care at the moment. All he wanted was sleep. He had been having such a good dream too, though he could no longer seem to remember it. "Naruto!" The voice drew louder. Naruto felt around for the pillow and pulled it over his head. Didn't the voice know he was tired?

Naruto was startled when a hand shook him. He groaned and rolled over. "Leave me alone! Can't you see I'm sleeping!"

The sound of rich laughter filled the room. A second later Naruto was falling onto the floor. The voice had pushed him out of the bed! "Come on, Naruto. If you're late than you're sensei isn't going to be happy." Naruto groaned. What did it matter if he was late once, or for the fourth time? Naruto opened his eyes and glared up at his father. "You're evil."

Minato only laughed. "I know. You tell me every morning."

Naruto quickly dressed before jumping out his window. He'd have to skip breakfast. If there was one thing Kakashi hated, it was lateness.

**A/N: Well, here it is. I'm sorry it took almost four months to update, but unlike most people, summer is my busiest time of year. There were a few times when I said I was going to sit down and write, but when I did, I would be interrupted. Thank you so much to everyone who's been patient with me. Honestly, your reviews are what made me sit down and finish this today (I should be doing some of my homework. I'm in college now). The next two weeks are going to be busy for me, since I'm having to rely on others to drive me around while my car is getting fixed from being rear ended. I might not be home a lot to write.**

**Since there isn't a timeline given for Naruto, I just made up a year. Hey, writers get that creative license. I don't own Naruto, but I'm free to make things up.**

** I honestly don't like this chapter, but it's what had to happen. Minato and Naruto's relationship is so much harder to write than Obito and Naruto's. I had originally planned to drag out sending Naruto home, but to me it didn't feel right. ****This story isn't over yet. **

**Thank you for putting up with me and reading this chapter. Please review. **


	23. Chapter 23

"Late again."

Naruto was still catching his breath from running to the training field from home. He looked up to see Kakashi scowling at him, or at least it seemed like Kakashi was scowling. It was hard to tell when only his two eyes were visible.

"I'm not late! You said we were meeting at 9:15. It's only 9:14 now!" Naruto defended.

Kakashi ignored his comments and turned to Naruto's teammates. Kakashi started to say something about promptness being essential to a shinobi, but Naruto tuned him out. He had noticed that Sakura had a strange expression on her face, like she had exciting news, but didn't want to say it in front of their sensei. Their other teammate, Choji, appeared hungry, which was normal. They were only a genin team and Choji was considered to be a bad shinobi by a lot of the students, but Naruto knew that Choji was really strong. He just needed a reason to show it.

A sharp pain brought Naruto back to awareness. He grabbed the back of his head where Kakashi had slapped him. "Why'd you do that?!" Naruto yelled.

"When I speak, you need to listen. You cannot learn from me if you ignore me when I am teaching you." Naruto nodded, though he had no intention of changing his attitude. Kakashi was always like this! Sure, he was a great ninja, but he wasn't a good teacher. He always tried to lecture them on the "proper" way to be a shinobi, but all he really did was teach them more rules. It was really annoying. The only good thing that had come out of Kakashi's teaching style was that it had created great teamwork between Sakura, Choji, and himself. One week into their training, they had all reached a point of exhaustion listening to their sensei, so they had made a system that they would alternate who would listen to Kakashi on a certain day. They rotated out and would just meet together for ramen or another meal during the week and fill each other in on the gist of what Kakashi had said.

Naruto worked through the exercises Kakashi had prepared for them with ease. The physical tasks they were forced to do were easy, which frustrated him. If there was one thing he hated more than Kakashi's lectures, it was that he never pushed them in their actually training. It was always strategy and rules.

The training session that day lasted until midafternoon. The last two hours were spent in another lecture before Kakashi finally let them go for the day. Like they did every day, Team 3 made their way into town to find a place to eat. While Naruto loved Ichiraku's best, he had picked the restaurant yesterday so now it was Choji's turn. Naruto suspected they would end up at a buffet. After taking several turns around the streets of Konoha, they finally arrived at the only restaurant in town that had a buffet. For midafternoon the place was busy, it seemed like every shinobi and civilian had decided to come and eat.

"Should we find another place to eat?" Sakura asked when they had not been seated after five minutes.

A waiter must have overheard, because he made his way over to them. "The wait will be another twenty minutes, but we can find you a place to sit while you wait."

Naruto looked at Choji for an answer, since this was his choice. He shook his head no. As much as he loved a good buffet, Choji was just too hungry to wait to eat. Naruto turned to the waiter. "No thank you. We'll come back in another day."

The group turned back towards the door when the waiter seemed to realize something. "Wait!" Naruto looked back over at him. "I'm so sorry Naruto-sama. I didn't realize it was you. We can have a table ready for you in just a moment."

Naruto shook his head. "It's fine. We don't want to cause any trouble."

The waiter shook his head again. "I insist. Pleas just wait here, I'll be right back. I don't know what I was thinking, telling you to wait." The waiter hustled off before Naruto could insist again. Turning back to his teammates, he shrugged his shoulders. At lease they could eat.

If there was on aspect of his father's job as Hokage that Naruto hated, it was this. No one treated him like a normal shinobi. He hated this kind of special treatment, but it seemed to follow him everywhere. When the waiter returned to lead them to an open table, Naruto caught the eyes of a few people that had been waiting since before they showed up. They all waved at him and didn't seem to mind that his team was being seated before they had been able to eat. Naruto didn't get it. If that were him seeing someone else getting treated like he was above everyone else, he would be mad. He didn't deserve this anymore than anyone else, but it always seemed to follow him around. Beside him, Sakura and Choji seemed uncomfortable, but he could understand that. While they were good friends, they were still getting used to each other. And it must be hard being surrounded by someone who was always getting more attention than you.

Once they had all grabbed a plate and filled it with food, they settled into the table. Sakura was filling him and Choji in on what Kakashi had talked about today when Naruto remembered the excitement that Sakura seemed to have earlier in the day. Not caring that she was in the middle of a sentence, Naruto interrupted her. "What was up with you this morning?"

Sakura seemed surprised to be cut off midsentence, but she recovered quickly. "Huh?" She seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Oh! I can't believe I forgot to say it." She was grinning so wide her smile seemed to take up her entire face. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Kakashi-sensei, but guess who I heard is returning tomorrow?"

From the hints just given the answer was obvious. "Obito-sensei!" Choji and Naruto shouted simultaneously. "Where'd you hear that?" Naruto asked.

Sakura looked around to see if anyone was listening in. "I overheard Iruka-sensei saying that he was coming in to help at the academy in a few days, which means he will have to be back in Konoha in the next few days to fill out the missions paperwork."

Naruto couldn't help but feel excited at Obito's return. Obito was the opposite of Kakashi in every possible way. When Kakashi was boring, Obito would be fun. When Kakashi lectured on a subject, Obito would have them doing cool training exercises. Naruto could still remember the disappointment he had felt when he learned that Kakashi would be his sensei. At that time he didn't know much about Kakashi other than he had been one of his dad's pupils and that he was a great ninja. But he knew all about Obito. While they were still beginners in the academy, Obito would stop in to volunteer in different classes. He would help Iruka teach them different techniques, but he would make it fun. Everyone had wanted Obito to be their sensei when they graduated, but he ended up being no one's sensei. Apparently Obito was overloaded with missions because of his sharingan and he couldn't take on a genin team. He used his spare time to volunteer at the academy so that he could still be a part of the growing generations learning.

One of the best things about Obito was that even when they had al graduated from the academy, he still planned times to train with everyone. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that as soon as Obito was back he would plan a time to meet with Team 3 and train with them. They would learn more in those few hours than they had learned with Kakashi in weeks.

oOoOo

Minato was pleased to have the days paperwork finished before supper time. Ever since he had been appointed Hokage, he had always tried to be finished with his work before it was late. There were times when things were out of his control, but most of the time he was able to make it. After the war ended, it had felt like the paperwork would never end, but it eventually had, and unlike his predecessor, he didn't allow himself to fall behind, so the stacks were never ridiculously tall. Minato placed the last paper in a bin before grabbing a folder and heading out the door. He had several of his special kunai at the house, but he liked walking whenever he could.

Walking through the front door of his house, Minato could smell the beef stew cooking in the kitchen. He smiled to himself. While Kushina could cook, most of her meals were just a tad bit off in flavor. Everything except ramen and beef stew. It was no wonder their son ate ramen most of the time. He probably didn't know that other food could taste good! Walking into the kitchen, Minato saw Kushina at work at the stove. She appeared to be mixing ingredients together, so he waited for her to finish. Kushina got ticked when he interrupted her cooking and made her lose track of what she had already done. Once she put the spices down, Minato approached her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Kushina leaned back into him. "I knew you were standing there."

Smiling, Minato kissed the back of her neck. "You are too good of a kunoichi to have not noticed me. How was your day, love?"

Kushina laughed, and he couldn't help but smile wider at the sound. "I've been at home all day cleaning up after my boys. I can't wait until my arm is healed and I am cleared to go back on missions." Kushina had been injured in a routine bodyguard mission. Nothing had really gone wrong, the injury was mostly the result of Kushina not paying attention. Though Minato would never force her too, he had a suspicion that Kushina didn't really want to return to missions. She just was tired of being bored all the time. She was an excellent kunoichi, but since Naruto was born, she would much rather spend her time keeping track of him than taking care of clients. Her maternal instincts kept her thinking about her family too much to be entirely focused on a mission.

"Do you mind making dinner for an extra tomorrow?" Minato asked.

Kushina turned around in his arms and looked up at him. "Is Obito finally coming back?" Minato nodded. "Thank heavens. That boy has been gone too long. I'm sure Naruto is going to be excited when he hears." That would be an understatement. Naruto loved Obito. He had never said anything about it, but Minato suspected Naruto had wanted Obito to be his sensei. To be honest, he had too. It was only the facts that he couldn't spare a sharingan user at the time that he hadn't assigned Team 3 to Obito. Instead, Minato had made sure to stick to the regular process of assigning sensei's, and it had been random luck that put Team 3 with Kakashi.

A crash sounded as the front door was slammed into the wall. Minato looked towards the hall, Kushina giggling in his arms. Naruto always made a grand opening when he came home. It was amazing that the boy was a good ninja, considered he couldn't enter his own home without shaking the walls.

oOoOo

The trees around him were finally familiar enough for Obito to slow down. He was in Konoha territory now. Sighing, he looked over at his companions. Minato had sent him out with an Anbu team this time, which had surprised him. Usually his missions involved observing and recording information, so being teamed with a team known as assassins had come as a shock. Still, they had completed their mission and he could finally return home. He would have to stop by the Hokage's office first and give a report, but after that he could go home and take a nice long bath. He liked to relax after long missions like this one.

When he left, he had only expected to be gone for a few days. That had quickly turned into a few weeks. He hadn't been home since shortly after the recent group of genin had graduated. Thinking of the genin reminded him that he needed to talk to Iruka about stopping in soon and also he needed to check up on the teams that had passed the tests. He had never pictured himself as a teacher-and he knew no one else had, since he was always considered irresponsible-but he had come to enjoy the time he spent working with the genin. It felt good to know you were helping kids in a way that would benefit them in life. It definitely felt better than going on missions that required an assassin team.

It took a little more than two hours for the shinobi to make it to the front gate of Konoha. Obito stopped and waited for the watch guards to wave them forward before proceeding to the Minato's office. He waved at several of the villagers as he passed them in the street. They waved back, apparently happy to see him. He only knew a handful of their names, but he recalled doing a favor for most of them in his teenage years. Speaking with the clerk at the front desk, Obito was told to wait while she checked to see if Minato was busy. Moments later she returned telling him to go on in.

Opening the door, Obito was struck by how relieved he was to be home. He didn't often feel homesick, but he had really missed being in Konoha this past mission. Minato was sitting behind the desk, looking every bit as in charge as he did the last time Obito saw him. "I have a mission report to turn in." Obito said when Minato looked up. Minato stood up without saying anything and made his way around his desk and over to the door.

"It's good to see you back and in one piece." Minato said before pulling Obito into a hug. After a second he released him and went back to the desk.

Obito settled down into one of the opposing seats. "This was an interesting mission." For the next few minutes, Obito filled Minato in on the events and findings of the mission he had assigned. The entire time he was talking, Minato took notes and would occasionally interrupt with a question. Once Obito had gone over all of the details, he paused to allow Minato to finish writing.

"Was there anything else strange that you saw? Any shinobi in a place they shouldn't be? Or perhaps something overheard that doesn't make sense?" Minato usually asked these questions at the end of a report. It wasn't because he thought someone might forget something, but because he wanted to make sure he was thorough.

Obito shook his head, "Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. I honestly can't imagine the village plotting anything right now. They seem to be too concerned about rebuilding all that was lost in the war." Konoha had escaped the war without much physical damage, but other countries hadn't been so lucky. It had been over a decade since the war ended, but there were still countries rebuilding their homes. The Third Shinobi War had caused more loss than the first and second wars combined. It was a tragedy, and Obito couldn't help feeling sorry for the other countries as well as his own.

Obito made to stand up when Minato spoke again. "Do you have any plans for dinner?" Obito had expected to be asked. His sensei liked to keep up with him and Kakashi, especially after Rin had been killed during the war. Not much time went by when their sensei didn't check up on them. It was true he had wanted to return home and rest, he couldn't turn down Minato's offer. Besides, that would allow him to drill Naruto on what Kakashi had taught him recently.

Dinner that night was a loud ordeal, and Obito loved every second of it. Between himself, Kushina, and Naruto there wasn't a moment when someone wasn't speaking. And most often there were two people speaking at once. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Minato smiling and shaking his head. His sensei was quieter than the rest of them, which meant he never really got a word in during these dinners. After Obito had eaten his share of food, he excused himself from the table and asked Naruto to join him on the porch. The boy happily followed him.

One outside, Obito sat down and leaned back against the house. Naruto sat beside him, for once quiet as he waited for Obito to say why he had brought him out. Obito looked at the boy's expectant face and couldn't help the flashback he had to his own genin days. He would never play favorites, but he loved Naruto like a little brother. He felt a bond with the boy that came from having the same personality type, though Naruto was taken a bit more seriously than Obito ever was. "So, what has Kakashi-sensei taught you lately?"

It seemed like a simple enough question, but Obito quickly learned it was not. "Nothing, that's what I've learned. He gets mad at us for being late when we aren't, and all he ever does is talk about rules, rules, rules. He never lets us do any real work!" Naruto's words all came tumbling out at once, making it difficult for Obito to catch all of them. Still, he seemed to get the gist of it.

"He still hasn't taught you anything physical?" Obito had known that Kakashi was mostly teaching his team about the rules a shinobi should follow, but he had thought he would be done with that by now. How long could someone talk about regulations anyway? "I'll have to talk with him about that. In the meantime, why don't you and your teammates meet me at training field four in two days? I have to get a lot of work done around town tomorrow, but the day after we can spend as much time training as you want."

"Yes!" Naruto jumped up as he pumped his fist. "I can't wait! I have to tell Sakura-chan and Choji!" Naruto looked ready to take off that instant.

Laughing, Obito tried to calm him down. "How about you wait until tomorrow? It's getting late and I don't think their parents will appreciate you banging on their doors and barging into their houses at this time of night." Obito grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and guided him into the house. Naruto was still chattering excitedly when Obito pushed him back into the kitchen to help clean up the dishes.

He really was going to have to talk with Kakashi, even if the man refused to talk to him like always.

oOoOo

It didn't take a genius to decipher the reason behind his student's giddiness. He had heard from Minato that Obito had returned, and he had been careful of where he had gone since. He didn't want to run into him anytime soon. It was clear from the way Minato was speaking that he hoped his old students would patch things up, but that wasn't going to happen. If there was one thing Kakashi hated above all else, it was people who didn't take being a shinobi seriously, and Obito clearly fit into that category.

Turning his thoughts away from his former teammate, Kakashi focused on educating his students on the correct order in which a request should be sent for backup. Other sensei's might gloss over things like this, but Kakashi believed it was rules like this one that separated the bad shinobi from the great. And he always trained to be one of the greats. His lesson went longer than he had planned, but he couldn't leave anything out. His team seemed relieved when he dismissed them, something that he noticed on a regular basis. Hopefully his students understood the importance of what he was teaching them soon. If not than he wouldn't be able to recommend them for Chunin when the time comes.

The moment had had been avoiding-he couldn't say dreading, because he definitely didn't dread his former teammate-came later that afternoon. He had just arrived back at his apartment when a knock sounded on the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see Obito standing there. Most shinobi didn't bother with the door, so it was strange that Obito would. It showed how far they had fallen apart. Not wanting to talk, but also knowing there was no way to permanently avoid Obito, Kakashi let him in.

Obito was quiet as he walked in to the small apartment. He glanced around at the walls before finally looking at Kakashi. "Hi."

It was such as simple thing to say, yet it was more than had been said between them in the past four years. Awkwardly standing by the door, Kakashi shut it and followed Obito into the living room. Once both were seated, Kakashi tried to find something to say. When the silence stretched on, he could no longer take it. "Why are you here?" Kakashi honestly hadn't meant for the question to sound so rude, but he wasn't going to let Obito know that. Let him think whatever he wants.

Obito didn't answer immediately, seemingly choosing his words with care. "I visited with Minato and his family last night." Kakashi had guessed as much from what Minato had said to him. Nodding, Kakashi motioned for Obito to continue. They both knew that wasn't why Obito was here. Swallowing, Obito continued. "I spoke with Naruto briefly and he said that you haven't been teaching them anything but the Shinobi Rules."

It wasn't said like an accusation, but Kakashi knew it was. "My job is to teach them how to be a shinobi, and following the rules is how that is done."

Obito opened his mouth, probably in an attempt to refute Kakashi's statement, but he closed it without speaking. Moments later he spoke. "Yes the rules are important, but so is physical training. You're supposed to be teaching them new jutsu's. They can't grow unless they learn new techniques." When Kakashi started to defend himself, Obito continues. "I know you don't want them to try anything dangerous, but…"

"Leave." Kakashi was standing over Obito now, having moved when Obito started talking about techniques. When Obito didn't move, Kakashi stepped closer. "None of the genin on my team have shown an interest in learned from me, and until they do I'm not going to waste my time teaching them techniques they can't use in the without proper knowledge to back it up. Now leave."

This time Obito listened, quietly shuffling out the door.

oOoOo

Obito wanted to hit something, preferably Kakashi. Why did he have to be so stubborn in his teaching methods? All Obito was trying to do was make sure those kids got the best training they could, and Kakashi refused to listen to any form of reason. He had barely said anything and Kakashi kicked him out! Opening the door to his own apartment in the Uchiha compound, Obito couldn't help but let it slam shut behind him. Kakashi was too obsessed with the rules, even more then when they were genin and chunin. How hard was it for Kakashi to understand that there were times when the rules had to be broken, and many great shinobi broke the rules? Seriously, they were more like guidelines anyway!

Taking off his forehead protector, Obito made his way into the kitchen. He didn't care to admit it, but he could cook pretty well. He definitely cooked better than Kushina, but Minato would kill him if he ever said that. Mixing a few ingredients together, Obito sat down and waited for the food to finish. Thinking back to his earlier conversation with Kakashi, he realized Minato had no idea that Kakashi was being a poor teacher. He couldn't know, because there was no way he would let his son be treated like that. Obito concluded that Kakashi left him no choice. He had to make sure Team 3 got the best training they could, and if that happened by him butting in telling Minato that Kakashi wasn't fit to be a sensei, then he would do it. He would make sure those kids got the best training possible. Someone needed to teach Naruto all those skills a Hokage needed to know.

**A/N: I feel like I should rise from the ground saying "I'm alive!" like Mushu. I'm sorry that it took me so long to update. I can't believe how quickly time got away from me. My first semester of college was hectic, but I am halfway done with my second semester, thank goodness! By the way, my intent regarding Kushina is not making it seem like every mother should stay home, but that she was fighting her desire to do good and also her maternal instinct to protect her son.**

**So here's an ironic story. After I finished writing this chapter, I logged on to double check that I picked up where I left off. When I did that I saw my author's note from my last update saying that it was right after I was rear ended in a car accident. I thought to myself, that was all the way back in August. I left to visit my grandparents and was planning to update when I returned home. I was driving home when I was T-boned by not one, but two cars, since the first car made my car spin into the next lane. I am fine, but it's still crazy. **

**But anyway, thank you to everyone who has stuck through this story with me. I can't believe I am still getting reviews so long after I last updated! This chapter is for you guys! I hope it is up to par, since outside of English papers, this is the first I've written in months. I had a great authors note planned out too! But I forgot, sorry.**


	24. Chapter 24

Naruto's eyes shot open as he sat up panting. Looking outside his window, he saw that it was still dark outside. Still panting, Naruto climbed out of his bed and opened his door. Slowly, so he wouldn't wake either of his parents, he crept down the hall to the bathroom. Once inside, he turned on the light and looked in the mirror. His body was trembling slightly and he was covered in sweat. He stared at his reflection in the mirror and couldn't help the unsettled feeling coming over him. He had been having a nightmare before he woke up, he was sure of that. The problem was, he couldn't remember what the nightmare was about.

Turning on the facet, Naruto splashed his face with water, hoping to shake off the unsettling feeling. The water helped to wake him up, but it didn't quite calm his nerves. Giving up, Naruto went back into his room and climbed into bed. It felt like hours before his body started to relax enough for him to fall back asleep, though it was probably only a few minutes. As he drifted back to sleep, he couldn't shake the unsettling feeling completely. Something in his gut told him that nightmare was important, that it was more than just a silly bad dream.

**That's because it is, idiot.**

oOoOo

The next morning, Naruto woke up feeling refreshed. He remembered waking up in the middle of the night, but looking back he couldn't see why he had been so worried. Honestly, people had nightmares all the time. Sure they sometimes felt feel, but everything was always worse at night. Pushing the dream from his mind, Naruto pulled his clothes on and made his way downstairs for breakfast. The kitchen was empty, so Naruto just poured himself a bowl of cereal before heading out the door. His father was most likely already at work, and Naruto had no doubt that his mother was still asleep.

Today was a day that most genin teams had off, but of course Kakashi had them meeting for another lecture. "On a real mission, there will be no days of rest," according to Kakashi, so they rarely got a day to really relax. Today Kakashi was going over the correct procedure for calling in for backup. It was a lecture that all Sakura, Choji, and he had already heard before, so they completely ignored Kakashi's words and allowed themselves to think of other things. Naruto thought back to his last few days training with Obito. He had been learning so much from Obito, and he was really excited about some of the techniques Obito had shown him. Actually, Obito had shown him a few jutsu's that Naruto had to swear he wouldn't tell anyone he knew. They were advanced and Obito doubted the Hokage would be happy knowing that his genin son was learning them.

It seemed more and more lately that Obito was the only one that really believed in Naruto. Sure, he knew that his parents believed in him, but it was kind of their job to. They were his parents, so of course they believed he could do whatever he wanted to do. And then there were the villagers. Because of who his father was, they seemed to view Naruto as a hero's kid. His dad was amazing, there was no doubt about that, but Naruto would like to be judged on his own merit. He didn't want people to look at him and only see what they believed. He wanted them to see the real him and his own abilities. And who could forget Kakashi? His own sensei was too stubborn to change and actually _teach_ his students.

He knew Sakura and Choji liked him for who he was, though that was slightly different. It still felt nice for an adult and actual shinobi, to believe that he was capable of doing these great things.

The field around him was quiet, causing Naruto to look up. Kakashi had stopped lecturing and was looking at them expectantly. Naruto glanced at his teammates, but they seemed they were just as clueless as he was. Did Kakashi really ask them a question? Kakashi usually just lectured and then dismissed them, maybe giving them an exercise or two to do. Naruto looked back at Kakashi. "Umm, can you repeat that?"

This was new territory. Neither Naruto nor Sakura and Choji knew how to respond to this. Kakashi seemed to be tense as he stared a whole into Naruto's forehead. "I asked you if you could repeat the procedure reference to me."

"Shinobi Code Number 184." Naruto said quickly. He had a good memory and it had been his job to listen to Kakashi the last time they heard this lecture.

Surprise registered on Kakashi's face, but it was quickly replaced by his usual scowl. "Very good."

Kakashi continued on with the lesson, but Naruto didn't allow his mind to wander again. For the first time since they had been assigned to Kakashi, Naruto didn't know what to expect from his sensei.

oOoOo

If anyone ever said anything, Kakashi would deny it to the day he died, but Obito's visit had gotten to him. He didn't like feeling incompetent, especially by his annoying former teammate, but incompetent is exactly how he felt. At first he had only been angry, pushing the thoughts away before he could dwell on them. But time had brought the words back repeatedly, and it may have influenced a bit of Kakashi's teaching that day. He hadn't planned to ask a question, but when it became clear that none of his students were listening, the question had slipped out as a way to stump them. Kakashi couldn't have been more surprised when Naruto actually answered him correctly. The boy did have to ask him to repeat himself, but then he had given the right answer.

Kakashi was no fool. He knew that his genin team took turns listening to him. He was put in Anbu years ago because he was observant. Or course he had noticed that half the time his students' minds were elsewhere. They would always get a blank look on their faces; probably thinking of all the jutsu's a different sensei would give them. This had never bothered Kakashi in the past. His job was to make sure that his students knew how to be great shinobi, and Kakashi knew that knowing the rules a shinobi was expected to follow was the only way to be a great shinobi. Breaking the rules only resulted in death and shame. He still believed this all firmly, but he hadn't been able to shake the thought Obito had given him that he wasn't being a good teacher. Kakashi did not like being told he wasn't a good teacher. He expected to be the best at all times, and that included instructing.

Choosing not to dwell on Obito's words anymore (for when did he ever listen to Obito anyway?) Kakashi made his way back to his apartment. The flat was empty except for a few pieces of furniture and folders spread out on his desk. He stood in the doorway for a second, letting the silence wash over him. It was always quiet here. He was used to the silence; it was all he had known since he was a boy. After what had happened to his father, Kakashi had moved into a new apartment and lived by himself. He knew that Minato didn't approve of his living on his own, but there was nothing his sensei could do about it. Kakashi had refused to move in with him several times. The truth was that he was used to the silence, and in a way he welcomed it. It was familiar and comforting, though at times it reminded him of how lonely he was. He had no friends, and he had no family. If he were to go on a mission and not return, there would be no one left to miss him.

Loneliness overwhelmed Kakashi. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to remember that he had no one, but for some reason seeing Obito again reminded him of all he had lost. He had once been a part of a team. They were never a close team, but at least he knew that there were people who relied on him, and though he was loath to admit it, he relied on them as well. In a sense, they were his family. Minato was never a second father to him, but he had been like an older brother. Things were different now. Minato was Hokage, and a war hero at that. While Minato always tried to make time for his former students, Kakashi knew that things were different. Minato also had his own family now. He no longer needed his genin team.

Mentally kicking himself for having such depressing thoughts, Kakashi made his way over to his desk. The paperwork on it was arranged neatly into folders, which allowed Kakashi to be organized and focused when working on it. Sitting down, Kakashi reached for the top folder and opened it up. Turning to the last page in it, Kakashi wrote in several short notes on further rules to follow and how to lecture them. After a minute in that folder, Kakashi pushed it away and grabbed the one furthest away. He kept a log on all of his observations on his genin team, and after every week he would record any progress that he saw in them. Once his was confident that his team could correctly recognize all of the shinobi code, then he would start on teaching them jutsu's.

Writing in the folders gave Kakashi peace. Filling out paperwork was something that he was used to and could do easily. It was comforting to be able to do a mundane task after such an unusual day. Finishing out the paperwork, Kakashi filed the folders away into a box under the desk. He went to bed relieved to be able to put the day behind him. Determined to wake up with his world back on track, Kakashi fell asleep.

oOoOo

Okay, so he hadn't gone to Minato immediately after leaving Kakashi's. Actually, it had been a few days since his unannounced visit and he had yet to even see his former sensei. That may or may not have had something to do with the fact that Obito was avoiding him. Obito had expected to know what to say about Kakashi, but when he had planned to go to the Hokage's office to speak with him, his nerves had gotten the better of him. How did he explain to his sensei that he believed Kakashi was an unfit teacher? Obito wasn't even a sensei, so how was he supposed to know what made a shinobi a good one or a bad one? The doubts had been enough to keep him from speaking up, though it hadn't completely stopped him from interfering.

Obito knew that Naruto wanted to learn more jutsu's, so he had spent a bit of time with him the past few days working on some. At first Obito had been hesitant on what Naruto could do. The child was still young, and Obito didn't want to push him into something that he wasn't ready for. But he should have known. Naruto had picked up on the simpler jutsu's easily, and had even mastered some that Obito considered to be intermediate. He really shouldn't have been surprised. This was his sensei's son, so of course he would be capable of great things. But more than that, this was Naruto. Obito _knew_ the potential the kid had. One day this kid was going to be Hokage, he was certain of that. The village expected much of Naruto because of who his father was, but the truth was that Naruto would one day earn their respect on his own skill.

"Obito-kun!" A high-pitch voice squealed from around the corner. Obito wanted to bolt, but his manners kept him in place. He turned around to see a woman running toward him. Jee, a young kinouchi who Obito had worked with on a past mission, was running toward him. Obito might not be a regular ladies man, but he knew that this woman had some kind of crush on him. Don't ask him why, but she did. And while Obito knew what it felt like to be on the receiving side of an unrequited crush, he also knew he had never been this clingy.

"What can I help you with, Jee-chan?" Obito asked, though he was racking his brain for an excuse to leave.

Jee giggled. "Oh, I don't need help, silly." She took a step closer. "Why didn't you tell me you were back?" She batted her eyelashes as she spoke.

Obito wanted to turn to her and say, _because it's easier to avoid you,_ but his mother would roll over in her grave if she ever heard him say that. Instead he said, "I've been busy since I got back. Not many of my affairs get done when I am gone." He could sound so professional when he wanted to…

Jee frowned in disappointment. "I was hoping I would be a priority for you to see." Her voice was whiney as she spoke.

Obito wanted to hit himself. How he had given her the impression that he was interest, he had no idea. She was an okay shinobi, and their mission together had gone smoothly. But, seriously? What did he do to cause her constant flirtation? Forcing himself to keep smiling, Obito said, "I'm afraid that right now my missions are my first priority. I'm sorry, but I must go."

Jee looked disappointed, but Obito ignored the flare of pity that he felt. It wasn't his fault that this woman wouldn't get the picture. Obito excused himself before he could do something that might encourage her and started back in his original direction. He really wasn't heading anywhere in particular, he had just felt like getting out to think. There was so much going on right now, more than any of the villagers knew. A few of the shinobi that had recently returned from covert missions had spoken of a stirring. Something big was about to happen of was already happening. The shinobi that spoke of it were clearly spooked. They had no idea what to expect, and the unknown terrified them more than knowing probably would have. Something in the world was unsettled, and it was making its presence known. The problem was: Obito already knew what it was.

oOoOo

Following the unexpected lesson from Kakashi, Naruto felt confused. He had gotten used to the set up that his "training" was, and for there to have been a change it was nerve racking. The rest of the lecture he had been on edge, waiting for Kakashi to ask another question or do something unusual to throw them off. Whatever had caused Kakashi to break his mold, it didn't come again. With anyone else, Naruto wouldn't have been shocked by the change in routine, but this was Kakashi. He lived off of routine. Something told Naruto that he always had. There were people that Naruto considered to be mysterious. Some of the older sensei's kept to themselves and always seemed to be hiding something. Even a few younger shinobi had the same air about them. But not Kakashi. If there was anything about Kakashi that was mysterious, Naruto had yet to come across it. He knew that Kakashi had a rough childhood and the result was Kakashi being a stickler to the rules. His sensei never did anything out of the ordinary and always followed every rule laid out before him. No, there was no mystery to Kakashi.

Obito, on the other hand…

Naruto had often looked up during training to see Obito staring at him. At first he had just thought Obito was studying his formations, but after some time, he had realized Obito was looking for something more. He would get this faraway look in his eye, and it would appear that his mind was miles away. Then he would refocus in just a second and Naruto would be left wondering if he had really been lost in thought at all. Usually this happened when they were training alone. In the presence of Minato or any other shinobi, Obito acted perfectly normal. It was like how Obito was teaching him intermediate jutsu's, even though he should only be learning the basics. Obito expected more from him than anyone else he knew. It was like Obito somehow knew just what Naruto could be capable with.

Then there was the look he sometimes had on his face. Obito was young, and he often appeared younger than he really was. Most often he was the life of a party and always he would be the first to say something to make people laugh, whether he was joking or not. And yet, his eyes told a different story. Sometimes when no one else was paying attention, Naruto would glance back at Obito and see a different expression. His eyes were sad, like he had seen too much of the world, or perhaps had experienced too much of it. He would look over at Minato and Kushina, happy and smiling, and give a sad smile, like he knew their happiness was only temporary. Obito never talked about it, but Naruto knew it had to have something to do with Obito's past. Obito never complained about his childhood, but Naruto had met a few Uchiha's, and most of them had not been nice people. Sure there was the occasional exception, like Sasuke, but most of them were harsh people. Obito had most likely come from one of the homes with bad parents. It wouldn't surprise Naruto if Obito's father had hit him. That seemed to be the only explanation to the sadness that Obito seemed determined to hide.

So no, Kakashi wasn't a mystery. But Obito was.

Walking the familiar path home, Naruto chose a detour. He had missed seeing Obito today, and he knew that it would only be a few days before he was sent away again. Obito lived a little ways from Naruto's own house, so the detour added a bit of time to Naruto's walk. That was okay. Something told him he needed to go and see Obito, an all too familiar feeling of not being able to see him again if he didn't. Naruto froze. Where had that thought come from? He had to say goodbye to Obito every so often when he went on missions, but he had never really worried about seeing Obito again or not. He had always trusted Obito's abilities to bring him home. Shaking his head, Naruto continued on his way, his step quicker than a minute ago.

Even with his increased pace, it took Naruto another ten minutes to reach the front door of Obito's small apartment. A wave of panic washed over Naruto. He tried to ignore the feeling, but it kept making itself known. He had no idea why, but Naruto was positive that the moment he opened that door, something would change. It was a fact that Naruto had to accept before he knocked on the door. Taking a deep breath, Naruto ignored the overwhelming urge to bolt and raised his fist to the door. He rapped on the door twice and waited.

Nothing. He knocked again and waited a moment for Obito to answer. When no answer came, Naruto started to fidget. It was completely likely that Obito was out meeting a friend or perhaps walking around town. Just because Naruto had a bad feeling, that didn't mean that something bad had happened. In fact, his bad feeling seemed to be more about what was _going_ to happen, not what had already occurred. Not knowing what Obito was up to, or how long he would have to wait for him to return, Naruto made a decision that would change his life.

Looking around to see that no one was spying, Naruto twisted the doorknob and slipped into the apartment. Shinobi rarely looked their doors since they left the windows open frequently anyway. Naruto had been inside Obito's apartment several times before. It would never win an award for cleanliness, but it was neat enough. At least there were no clothes strewn about like Naruto was sure his future apartment would have. The apartment was small. There was one room with a kitchen and table, and then a door that led to Obito's bedroom. A few papers where cluttered on the table, probably reports from one of Obito's recent missions. The door to Obito's room was open, so Naruto could see that it was empty. Deciding that he had put in so much effort already, Naruto grabbed one of the chairs. He would wait for another hour or so, and if Obito wasn't back yet he would head home.

It only took ten minutes for Naruto to get bored. Not having anything to do, he figured he might as well train. He worked on his hand formation and stances for the next half hour. He had moved onto working on balancing when the building shook. It wasn't that unusual, considering the building didn't have very sturdy support beams, but the shaking was enough to send Naruto crashing into the side of the table. The table overturned, spilling the papers and folders onto the floor. Sheepishly, Naruto picked them up. He was glad that no one had seen him be such a klutz. He had grabbed all the loose papers and was collecting the folders when he saw it. The folder was still closed, but Naruto could make out the words on it clearly: _Uzumaki Naruto._

A chill went through Naruto. His last name was Namikaze, so why did this folder have the name Uzumaki on it? Naruto had a dreadful feeling like he should know the answer. With a trembling hand, Naruto picked up the folder. He wasn't usually one to snoop, but this was different. Whatever this was, it was important enough for Naruto to break a few rules. Opening the folder Naruto saw some scribbled notes, clearly in Obito's handwriting. The notes weren't much, just some of the progress Naruto had shown and the new jutsu's he had learned. Nothing was too unordinary about that. Naruto knew there were many sensei's that recorded their student's progress. He wasn't technically Obito's student, but Obito was still training him.

Naruto was closing the file when a note fell out. It was folded in half and had probably been stuffed between the pages. Naruto rested the file back on the table and sat down in the chair. His hands were trembling again when he opened the note. It read:

_Obito,_

_I'm sorry for not getting a chance to say a proper goodbye. There is so much I can't say, but I want you to know the full truth about me. The reason I was brought here was simple: The Iwa-shinobi wanted to use me. You see, the truth will probably make you hate me, but you deserve to know it. I am a jinchuuriki. Scary, huh? As you probably suspect, I didn't ask for it, but this was the life I was given. I have made peace with my demons though. It took some time, but even the people who once feared me now look at me because of my own strengths. I'm no longer just a demon-child, but a Konoha shinobi._

_I am telling you this because I can see a familiar pain in your eyes. You know what it is like to be an outsider, to not belong even in your own home. Don't give up. Whenever you are late because you stopped to help someone or something at home delayed you, remember to smile. You are not alone. I won't always be there, which must be evident by my goodbye, but remember that you will always have friends. My father and mother love you, and Rin looks at you as a dear friend. Hold on to those friendships. And don't forget Kakashi. He is alone and he believes he is happier like that, but there will be a day when he comes around. Be ready for that day, because he will need you. _

_I'm glad I met you, Obito. You're a good shinobi and an even better friend. _

_Be happy,_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

This wasn't right. This letter couldn't be right. Naruto's head was swimming. His thoughts were too muddled to hear the door open, but when his body sagged and his mind went black, he was vaguely aware of being caught. While Obito gently laid him down, Naruto only had one thought. _Something wasn't right in this world._

**Took you long enough to realize that.**

**A/N: You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for sticking with me through this long pause. I can't believe I am still getting reviews when I haven't updated in months. I'm sorry! I don't know if I can say that enough. I said when I started this story that I would finish it, and I will. It may take me a while, but this story will one day be complete. I tried to write awhile ago, but I just couldn't seem to get it right. This chapter started out a little rough for me, but about halfway through it took off. Thank you again and again for continuing to read this. I will TRY my hardest not to take another six months to update, though know that there will be another update even if it does take that long.**

**Thank you for reading and please review.**


	25. Chapter 25

To say that hearing a voice inside your head was unsettling would be an understatement. Naruto had once heard an older villager rambling about hearing voices and seeing things, and the man had been mocked for being mental. Now, the good news was that Naruto had yet to see something that wasn't really there. Probably. But he had definitely heard a voice, and that wasn't normal. Ignoring the desire to freak out immediately, Naruto instead tried to refocus his thoughts.

He sat up, expecting to see a bed beneath him, but instead it was a stone floor. Looking around, Naruto saw no signs of a bed or a room. In fact, he realized that the room was actually a hallway. Glancing around, there was no indication of what was the right way to walk, so he stood and headed toward the right. At least it had the word right in it, Naruto thought. The stone hallway seemed to stretch forever, and then when Naruto thought it was about to end, he would come to a corner and have to walk down another corridor. After a half hour, Naruto didn't know which way he had started from or if he had been walking in hours.

The more he walked, the stranger he felt. It was like an impression was being made upon his head and the further he went into the hall, the harder the impression became. Naruto feared that if he continued going further he might combust from the pressure. He briefly thought about turning around, but the panic he felt at that notion was too much. He didn't know why, but he needed to move forward. Forward was the only way out. The problem was that he didn't know where forward was. With nothing but the pressure to go on, Naruto continued walking straight.

He had lost count of the number of corners he had rounded when the pressure gave way to the first burst of pain. Naruto fell to his knees in agony as his head pounded in an unfamiliar way. His forehead was tight and the pressure on the back of his neck caused Naruto to be nauseous from the pain. He felt himself on the verge of blacking out when a scene flashed before his eyes: his sensei, Kakashi, looking at him with a bored expression. But that wasn't right. Kakashi had probably never looked bored in his life; he was too alert to everything around him to be bored. And what was up with his covered eye?

The pain subsided, but the image stayed with Naruto. He had no idea what it was, an apparition of the future or his mind playing tricks on him, but it had to have some meaning. Not knowing what else to do, he stood up and took another step forward. Nothing happened. He continued walking, and gradually the pain increased again. It was another five minutes when the pain burst again and his mind flashed. This time it was Sakura standing next to him, but instead of Choji being their teammate, they were joined by Sasuke. What was going on? His friends looked younger in that flash than they did now, but he had no recollection of the moment. The flashes came every few minutes, along with the pain. It wasn't until Naruto felt a presence that he knew who was almost at the point of no return.

If he chose to, he could turn back now and never learn the truth behind the images. They could just be his imagination running wild in a dream caused by stress or eating bad ramen. The second he turned that corner they meant something. Part of his mind wanted him to turn back; it told him he would be happier never knowing. But Naruto had never been called a coward before, and nothing would change today. Taking a deep breath, Naruto braved the corner and whatever flash the pain would give him. He wished he had turned back.

Sasuke was lying on the ground: dead. Naruto had no doubt that the person he had been the person to kill Sasuke. _I'm going to be responsible for a friend's death!_ For the first time during his journey, Naruto lost the contents of his stomach. The image of the bloody, broken body of Sasuke was stuck in his head, penetrating every part of his mind. Unlike the previous times, sound started to filter in. A maniacal sound that curled Naruto's toes and made him want to scream. Cold, heartless laughter.

**This is who you are. The good, the bad, they have both made you who you are, or should be, today.**

Naruto couldn't see anything in the dark corridor, but like a puzzle piece that is finally found after years of searching, the final piece clicks together.

_I know, Kurama. I know._

Naruto opened his eyes, this time the sight of a bright light blinding him. Squinting away from the sunlight coming in from the window, Naruto looked around the room and saw that Obito was sitting at a small table in the corner. He had not yet realized Naruto was awake, because he was still looking over reports like he didn't have an unconscious shinobi in his house.

"I never thought I would see the day where Uchiha Obito does paperwork voluntarily."

Obito glanced up at him, surprise written on his face. He quickly recovered from his surprise and retorted, "I never thought I'd see the day where Uzumaki Naruto falls passes out from a note."

Naruto was about to reply that the note had nothing to do with his passing out, but his thoughts were sidetracked. Uzumaki. That's who he was of course, Uzumki Naruto, current Hokage of Konoha. Only he wasn't, was he. Not anymore. His confusion must have been evident because Obito spoke up. "There's a lot for me to explain to you. Why don't you give yourself a minute to get accustomed to your memories, and then join me in the kitchen for some food? I'm making ramen." He disappeared from the room before Naruto had a chance to reply.

While he remembered who he was, he still had memories from this new world that felt just as real. Logically, he knew that he couldn't have lived two lives, but that is exactly how it felt. If this was the new future, then why did he still remember the old one? The memories had been locked away, but the letter from himself had been the key to unlocking them. And what about Obito? He had called him Uzumaki, but that wasn't his name here. How could Obito remember the past and his visit, but no one else?

Shaking his head, Naruto stood and made his way in to the kitchen. He had a sinking feeling this was a problem that not even ramen could fix.

oOoOo

Obito stood waiting for Naruto to come out of the room. When Naruto had first left them, Obito had believed that everything had gone back to the way it was supposed to be. Shortly after Naruto's visit, Kakashi and sensei forgot about him. Obito had casually mentioned him in conversation, and the two of them had just stared and asked who he was talking about. Rin lost her memories of Naruto shortly after. For weeks, Obito had feared he would start to forget as well, but every day his memory seemed to be just as clear as it had been the last day. Part of Obito wondered if it had anything to do with the letter.

The letter. Obito hadn't read the note in years, but he still remembered every word it said. It was hard to forget a word like jinchuuriki. When Obito had first read the word, he had felt a sense of fear that came with growing up hearing how bad the bijuu were. He forced his fear away before he did something stupid like burn it. To this day if anyone asked, he merely had a speck in his eye upon finishing it. It was true that Naruto had been his closest friend at that point, and to hear him say what a great shinobi he thought Obito was, well, it was a happy moment.

As time went on and his sensei and Kushina got married, Obito wasn't surprised when they told him that Kushina was pregnant. He was even less surprised when they named the baby Naruto. Everything was normal, and it looked like Naruto hadn't messed anything up in the timeline. At least until Obito came to the realization that Naruto was not a jinchuuriki. That seemed like kind of a big deal to whoever the nineteen year old Naruto had been. When Naruto reached age five and Minato and Kushina were still alive, Obito knew that something had gone wrong. He didn't know what, but he knew he needed to figure it out. So he joined Anbu so he could go on the more obscure missions. At first nothing seemed connected. It appered that Naruto coming back had changed some details, but that they future was still okay.

It was only when he returned from an Anbu mission three years ago that the full truth hit him.

"Is the ramen ready?" Obito looked up in surprise for the second time that day. Naruto was watching him again, but this time it was more calculating. Looking into his eyes, Obito knew he was looking at a man who had survived a horrible war and that had to make terrible sacrifices for the good of his country. The young boy he was looking at was actually one of the strongest Hokage's in the world.

Obito grabbed bowl and gave a few scoops of ramen to Naruto before settling in on the kitchen counter. Naruto ate quietly at first, clearly still taking everything in. "What's going on?" Naruto finally asked after minutes of silence.

Obito cleared his throat. "It's hard to know where to begin. The easiest part is that I am the only one who can remember your visit when I was a young."

Naruto nodded. "That part I was able to summarize. Why?"

Of course he had to ask why. Because why ask the easy questions? "I have few suspicions, but no answers. Your letter to me is probably one of the biggest reasons why."

Again, Naruto nodded, contemplating this. He looked around the room, probably for anything that could repeat his next words. "And the Kyuubi? I can hear Kurama, but I can't sense him but for moments at a time."

"Anything that has to do with the Kyuubi, I am clueless about. None of my dealings have encountered that problem."

"So what have your dealings entailed?" Naruto challenged.

Obito looked Naruto in the eye. "Just one fact that I am sure of." He used his senses to feel for intruders around him. Naruto was looking at him expectantly. "This world that we are in isn't real."

oOoOo

Naruto's mind was still reeling from Obito's revelation. This world wasn't real. His going to the past hadn't changed the future, but rather had stuck them in some fake alternate future. Even with his memories of the past back, Naruto could still remember waking up sick and having Kushina, his mother, look after him. His father had taught him how to throw kunai. If this wasn't real then why did he have two sets of memories, one more painful than the other? Naruto looked up at Obito, who had moved off of the counter and was currently standing by the single window in the apartment. It seemed like Obito had his fair share of painful memories, yet he claimed they weren't real.

"If this world isn't real, then what is it? In all of my talks with Jiraiya, we never went over alternate timelines." Naruto was afraid to ask the question, because there didn't seem to be any logical explanation.

Obito looked over at him. "I've been researching this from the moment I realized the present was not how you described the future. I keep looking and looking, but there seems to be only one explanation. The seal that Minato made for you had a flaw in it. But that doesn't make much sense, because Minato-sensei is so careful with his seals."

An unsettled feeling came over Naruto. "His chakra measurement was off." His voice was barely above a whisper, so afraid was he that this was the truth.

Obito's eyes widened. After a moment he must have arrived at the same conclusion as Naruto, for he said, "I assumed you had told him. I mean, you told me, so of course you would've told your father."

The words sounded strange coming from Obito. For a small second, Naruto could see the young boy he had first met when he was thrown into the past. While this alternate or fake world had given Naruto everything he never had, it had also taken so much from Obito. With a sharp pain in his chest, Naruto recalled hearing about Rin's death in this world. She had died on a mission protecting both Kakashi and Obito. It seemed like the two had grown even more distant following that event. Naruto and Obito were the only two aware that they were living a lie, and Naruto only for a matter of minutes. How long had Obito suffered knowing that what was happening wasn't real, yet being unable to awaken from his nightmare?

"You are my friend. I trusted you with my secret and I wanted you to know that I fully understood your pain. We were both loners, and I thought that me telling you the full truth about me would give you hope and confidence in yourself." He wasn't sure where the words were coming from, but they felt right. Seeing the look on Obito's face was enough to convince Naruto he had said the right thing. It was true that all of the genin and younger chunin looked up to Obito, but none of them really considered him a friend. He was more of a mentor. With Kakashi and him being on the outs, and what happened to Rin…Well, Obito needed a friend.

Instead of replying to his comment, Obito shifted the focus back to the seal. "So if sensei didn't know about the Kyuubi chakra, the additional chakra could distort the seal and you could end up anywhere." Obito glanced around the room. "Case and point."

So that's it, huh? The chakra in the seal was off? Why hadn't he just been fully honest with Minato in the first place? Groaning, he realized what he needed to do. Obito shot him a sympathetic look and shrugged. "It's your choice when you do it, but you need to tell him and you need him to make another seal."

He had no idea how he was going to tell Minato. It would have been so much easier if he had just done it the first time! At least then Minato believed there was something off about Naruto. Now he knew him as his son, which was the truth, but also not at the same time. Urg, this would be difficult. A new memory came to mind, this one from the fake world. Minato had been putting a lot of effort into being prepared for another war, so seals and tags were prepared in advance. It wouldn't take long for Minato to manipulate one to do what he needed, especially since Naruto could remember most of the sequences needed. Which meant this was goodbye. Glancing up at Obito, Naruto swallowed. "I don't want to say goodbye. You've been a good friend, one of the greatest, and I'm going to miss you."

It was the best that he could do, but it seemed to be enough. Obito gave him a sad smile before taking four long steps and encircling Naruto in his arms. Usually, Naruto would push someone giving him a hug away, but in the case he could make the exception. He held tightly to Obito for several seconds, trying to convey his gratitude in his actions. Pulling back, Obito gave him a sad, yet hopeful, smile. "See you in another life."

Except he wouldn't.

oOoOo

The day hadn't exactly gone as Minato had planned. Between the never ending paperwork (which really wasn't so bad) and the random shinobi getting into bar fights at mid-morning (seriously, who does that?) the day had been filled with unenjoyable times. He still had another hour to go before he had promised Kushina he would be home. Grabbing the next file in the "to-do" stack, Minato was startled when Naruto appeared in front of him. "How'd…?" Minato started, shocked that his young son had been able to sneak up on him. "What are you doing here, son?"

Upon first glance, Naruto appeared fine, but years of learning everything about his boy had attuned Minato into knowing that something was bothering him. The silence felt like forever before Naruto met his eye and exhaled. Minato was startled by the look in his eye. It seemed sad and tired, like a soldier that had been fighting for too long with no rest. But that wasn't an accurate description because Naruto had never seen war. His boy was here for a reason, and if he needed to wait patiently to hear it, then by all means let the paperwork pile up! Minato tried not to let his mind wander into thoughts of what could be wrong. Too many possibilities plagued his mind for him to dwell on them.

It seemed like an eternity when Naruto finally opened his mouth to speak. "IwassenttothepastandthenwassenttothistimebymistakebecauseIdidn'ttellyouthatIwastheKyuubijinchuurikiatthattimeandtheaddedchakramessedupyourseal."

If Naruto took a breath, Minato didn't hear it. What he did hear was "Kyuubi jinchuuriki." Or at least that's what he thought he heard. He slowly stood to his feet and walked around his desk. He stood face to face with Naruto now and he couldn't help the dread that washed over him. Something was about to change. He didn't know why or how, but whatever was causing Naruto to act this way had to be big, especially since it had the words Kyuubi and jinchuuriki in it. "Please repeat yourself." Did he say that? He must have because there was no one else in the room.

Naruto took a shaky breath. "I was sent to the past and then was sent to this time by mistake because I didn't tell you that I was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki at that time and the added chakra messed up your seal."

Okay, so when he had told Naruto to just say it, he had not been expecting that. Not many people expect a heart to heart with their son to turn into a confession on time travel and housing a demon. Minato reached for Naruto to feel that he didn't have a fever, but Naruto flinched away. That didn't stop Minato, who touched Naruto's forehead with the back of his hand. "You're not warm. Maybe it's an infection of some sort. I should call a doctor."

"No!" It was the angriest he had ever heard Naruto, and the abruptness of the outburst startled him. He looked back into Naruto's eyes and couldn't help being drawn into the despair he saw there. "Don't you understand? This world isn't right. There have been events that should've have happened, or things that should have and didn't. People who are here that shouldn't be." Naruto's voice broke at the end.

"Naruto, you're talking crazy. I need to get you to a doctor, hallucinating isn't a good sign." Minato tried to reason with him, but Naruto seemed determined to prove himself right.

"Fine, if you won't listen to my words, then how about my actions." Without any further warning, Naruto stepped back forming a full Rasengan in his palm. Slowly wind began to form around the ball and then a hint of water appeared. Mesmerized, Minato stared until the rasengan burst and Naruto cried out in pain holding his arm. Minato was on the floow holding Naruto's arm in a flash. "Stupid thing, even in a unreal place it still is sensitive." Naruto grumbled.

An image of Rin treating a similar wound popped into Minato's head. The wounded shinobi was blonde and bore a close resemblance…no, this was years ago. There was no way._ Except time travel._ Minato shivered. Could this be true? Looking at Naruto now, Minato didn't want it to be. He wanted to continue on and live his life the way it was now. He had a beautiful, loving, and temperamental wife, and a son whom he adored and loved with all of his heart. Surely this was what was real? But then why did that faint image continue to grow stronger and why was Naruto leaning against him, still in pain over his arm. Naruto shouldn't even be able to perform the high level of jutsu that he just used. Minato wasn't even capable of combining his natural element and the rasengan. Memories came to mind then. Real memories, not the fake ones that he had been living with for years now. And with it a pain came so deep in his heart that he didn't think it would ever heal. This was his Naruto. Even in a world completely imaginary or made up, this was his real son before him, and if this was really Naruto, then Minato could only fear the pain he saw hidden in his blue eyes.

_Kyuubi Jinchuuriki_.

His son was a jinchuuriki, which meant that something had to have happened to Kushina. He was also probably gone, meaning Naruto had been alone. His son had grown up, maybe from a young age, alone and probably feared due to his curse. A cruse Minato had a terrifying feeling he had inflicted on his son. Not knowing what to say or how to make amends, he simply wrapped his arms around Naruto and held him. His son may be older than he looked, and he might have suffered through more than any person ever should, but in that moment he was just a son being hugged by his father.

And for the second time that day, Naruto allowed it.

**A/N: Thank you all for being patient. I started this chapter a little while ago, but it took me forever to get back to it. This semester of school had been the most stressful one I have had yet, which has made it really difficult to write. Every time I would want to sit down and write, I would remember all of the school assignments that I have due and have to change my focus to them instead. Today marks the end of the semester. A few hours ago I took my last final and have been able to wipe school from my mind and turn my focus back to writing this story. **

**This story is almost over, which most of you have probably figured out in this chapter. The scenes between Obito and Naruto and then Minato and Naruto have been planned for a long time and I only hope that I was able to convey the scene in my mind well on to paper (or computer screen). Since I am on break now, I plan to finish the last chapter quickly and then possibly do an epilogue. This story had taken a life of its own and is so different from the idea I had when I started writing. **

**Thank you guys for hanging in there with me. Please take a second to review the chapter and let me know what you think. I'm wrapping it up, so please let me know if there are any loose ends you are wanting to know more about or how you think the story has gone so far.**


	26. Chapter 26

There was a part of Naruto that didn't want to immediately get started on fixing the seal. The longer he put it off, the longer he was able to spend time with his family. The moments that he had shared with his mother and father in this realm were so different from what he could have imagined having a family was like. When he was a young child, he would dream of a father looking after him and a mother loving him, but that had just been pictures. Right now he had the real thing, and there were feelings that went with it that couldn't be explained. He wanted to stay and be with his family, which included Obito.

But they weren't his only family. In his own time he had friends that he considered family. He missed Sakura hitting him whenever he said something stupid (the frequency and strength behind the punches had decreased in recent years), he missed seeing Sai failing at human interaction because he took everything he read to heart, he missed Hinata and her determination to prove herself (which she had done time and time again), and he missed Kakashi and his constant excuses…

Guilt washed over Naruto, for he had not even stopped to consider his sensei since he had recalled his memories. He missed _his_ Kakashi, but he also needed to find closure with this one here. Back when he had been on Team Minato, Naruto had tried to help him, but his efforts were met with resistance, and if anything they made things worse. No, he needed to speak with Kakashi before he left here for good. When Minato was finished with the seal, he didn't know what his leaving would do. Obito told him that this world wasn't real, and Naruto had struggled to understand that until it clicked in his head what that meant.

This world wasn't real, but that didn't mean that it didn't exist. When the seal had malfunctioned due to the Kyuubi's chakra, it had created a slight tear in the fabric of time. The tear gave way to a split occurring and two different worlds splitting off. One of the worlds was Naruto's future, or what was the correct future, and the other was this world. Not necessarily fake like Obito had said, but different, _parallel._ And Naruto had no idea if the two worlds could co-exist without him. Was he the reason for this and would sending him to the other destroy this world? Or would time continue on without him? He really wished Jiraiya would here, for the old pervert would surely have some sort of answer.

This is why it was so urgent that Naruto get to Kakashi. If this world still existed after he left, then he wanted to make sure that his sensei was going to be okay, because the truth was Kakashi wasn't. Naruto hadn't been able to pick up on the signs at first, mostly because he was unaware of what Kakashi was like normally, but now they were glaringly obvious. He had no one, and as someone who grew up without a family, he understood that perfectly.

Standing outside Kakashi's door, Naruto was thankful for the time he had spent as a public figure. If it wasn't for the experience that came inside a council room, then he doubted he would've known what to say when Kakashi suddenly opened the door. "Kakashi-sensei, can I ask you about a jutsu?" Kakashi's mask dropped for a second, surprise at the question showing on his face, before the mask was back in place and Kakashi was nodding and directing him into the small apartment. Knowing that this was probably the first time that any of his students had come asking a question, Naruto felt guilty for not doing it sooner. What would the harm have been in showing Kakashi some respect?

The silence in the room was uncomfortable, and Naruto couldn't help breaking it. "I was talking to my father today about a certain jutsu, and I was wondering what you thought about it?" Naruto winced at his own words. He doubted he spoke like that in this world, but with his memories returning, so had his slightly more educated speech. If Kakashi was caught off guard, he didn't show it. Not like that was shocking. Naruto waited a minute for Kakashi to say something, but he didn't so Naruto forged ahead. "We were talking about a jutsu that allowed time-travel. My dad seems to think that it is possible, and I think it's a really cool idea. Since you're my sensei, I thought you might know about it. Do you think it could be possible?" Lame explanation, but what else could he say? _I'm from the future and I am here to talk about your past._ Not creepy at all.

Kakashi leaned back, most likely thinking over his response. Time went by slowly as Naruto waited, hoping this question would be the key that opened Kakashi up. "Yes, I do believe it is possible." Kakashi answered slowly.

Something about the way he said it gave Naruto a hint that there was more to Kakashi's answer than he was implying. As he studied Kakashi's guarded face, understanding hit him like a ton of bricks. "You've considered time-travel before! Probably as a way to save the White Fang." Naruto really wished Sakura were here to hit him.

Kakashi tensed and his eyes turned cold. "Why did you come here today? To dredge up the past for your own enjoyment? So you can go to lunch with your teammates and talk about how boring your sensei is and how much he lives in the past." Kakashi's voice is hard, but his words don't come off as threatening like he must have intended. Instead they seem broken. Is this all Kakashi had in this world? A team that he doesn't think even likes him? Naruto's heart breaks as he watches his sensei, who for the first time in this world, has left his face unguarded. This new world might have brought about positive changes for Naruto, but it had damaged other people so much. He needed to apologize, even if Kakashi had no idea why he was.

"I…" Naruto's words caught in his throat. Why had Kakashi suffered so much pain in this world? Why did good stuff happen to some of them, and bad to others? He would take the pain he had suffered a million times if it meant that Kakashi didn't have to go through what he did. Because Naruto had friends who cared for him and people who believed in him. Kakashi had none of that. "I'm sorry." What else could he say? What else was there to be said?

Kakashi's gaze softened a fraction, but he was clearly no less angry, only confused. "You say you are sorry, but it is not my accusations you are apologizing for." The observation is keen, and something that Naruto knows that _his real_ sensei would have picked up on as well. Kakashi continues to glare at him, but all at once, the dam break. There are no tears in Kakashi's eyes, but there is a pain in them that had long been buried. "I don't know why you came in here today to bring up the past, but I can tell you it is not a pleasant place to be." Kakashi paused, and Naruto was ready to speak, when Kakashi continued, much to his surprise. "My entire life I have been alone, and that is something that you can never understand. The people that I have had to watch die have haunted me every day, taunting me for my failures."

There was another pause, and Naruto knew Kakashi was struggling to get through this. Naruto could only sit in shock, as Kakashi actually opened up. This had been easier than he expected. "Don't make the mistake that I do not understand love and friendship. There have been times in my life where those things seem within my grasp, but in the end it is all for nothing. I lose them and the pain deepens." He looked up into Naruto's eyes. "There are only a handful of people in this world that I care for and I must keep the distant. Showing them love would only mean losing them. This world had no love for me, yet I must play the part it had given me. I will take the pain, because every day I am alive, there is a chance I can become a better shinobi, a better person. Maybe one day I will be able to save someone in a way that makes up for my failures. That's why the rules are so important, because by you following them, you are increasing your chance of staying alive."

Naruto felt like his head had been turned around. He was lightheaded and dizzy from Kakashi's confession. Why hadn't he understood it when Kakashi was training him, or when he had met Kakashi as chunin? Why had it taken so long for him to understand Kakashi's pain? A new thought crashed into Naruto's mind that hadn't been there before. "You've always felt like this, ever since you're dad's death?" Naruto asked this cautiously, not wanting to risk upsetting him further. When Kakashi barely nodded, Naruto felt like his lungs had been punctured. If Kakashi had felt like this since he was a young boy, then it would mean it was before Naruto had arrived in the past, before anything had changed. This pain wasn't something unique to this world's Kakashi, but _his_ sensei had felt it too, maybe still did.

Naruto didn't know what possessed him to do it, because really, three hugs in one day? But he stood up and slowly walked to where Kakashi had his head bowed in hand. It was a bit awkward, what with Kakashi not reciprocating and also being hunched over, but Naruto wrapped his arms around Kakashi and held him tightly. "I'm sorry for the past. I wish there was something that I could've done to change what happened, but if there is one thing I have learned recently, it's that sometimes things happen for a reason." Kakashi lifted his arms and wrapped one around Naruto, probably the most he was comfortable doing. Naruto's heart gave a tug when he realized he would be leaving. It wouldn't take Minato long to finish and he would be going home, and while he knew that he would see Kakashi again, he also knew that this wasn't the same Kakashi as was in his world. "I'm also sorry for the future. Like how we can't change the past, there are things in the future that are beyond our control. Please don't let the future keep you from living today." Kakashi had to understand that when Naruto left, it wouldn't be Kakashi's fault.

"I will try to remember that, but it is a challenge to change one's mindset after so long." Kakashi pulled back and Naruto knew that his time was over. He had said his goodbye and he had hope for Kakashi's future here. Now it was time to get back to Minato. He was halfway out the door when Kakashi called back to him. "I hope I remember this when all is said and done." Kakashi said. Naruto felt his eyes grow wide. The implications of what Kakashi had said. Kakashi must have seen Naruto's confusion. "I'm a shinobi genius, Naruto. I've always suspected." As he turned to leave, Naruto was pretty sure there was a smirk hidden under Kakashi's mask. He didn't know why he was surprised, he had hardly been subtle.

oOoOo

Minato wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel having completed the seal, but he had a feeling anxiety was one of them. Was he really about to send his son to another dimension? Surely that couldn't be logical, yet here he was, putting the finishing touches on a seal that would do just that. He didn't even know why he believed Naruto's story, but he did. Somehow his son had two sets of memories, and through some strange means, the ones from this world were fake. He had been speaking to Obito about it after Naruto had left, and they had both been uncertain where that left them. Obito was confident that this was not how the world was supposed to be, so Minato trusted his son and his student.

The only part that left him terrified was not because he didn't know if this meant he would cease to exist or not, but that if he did continue to exist, it would be without his son. Obito had shared with him that Naruto had once admitted to growing up without parents. Was it some sick twist of the universe that it would now be Minato and Kushina going on without a son? If so, the universe was cruel.

Too soon, everything was ready. Naruto brushed through the front doors of the Hokage's office like he owned the place, which in a way, he kind of did. He slowed his steps upon seeing just Minato there. Obito had cleared out earlier, wanting Minato to get a chance to say his goodbye. He had also left to grab Kushina, he would be there momentarily. Naruto seemed to understand this, as he waiting without saying a word. When Kushina finally did arrive, she wasted no time going to Naruto and wrapping him in her arms. Minato smiled at the scene, before joining them. For just a minute, he held his family and imagined it would always be this way. Nothing was going to happen to them. But that wasn't reality, because he was about to send his only son to an alternate world where he wasn't there.

Kushina pulled back a fraction and looked Naruto in the eyes. "Obito might have explained a few things, but I'm still confused on the whole matter. But I'm trusting you and I'm trusting Minato with sending you to the right place. You need to remember that I love you. We love you. And don't go falling in love with the first girl you see. And eat healthy; you can't have ramen every day. I'm rambling now…Please just look after yourself, okay?"

Naruto nodded, "Okay, Mom."

There was so much Minato wanted to say, but none of the words came to mind. "Listen to your mom and look out for yourself." Naruto nodded again. It was clear that there would never be enough time in either world for them to say everything that needed to be said, so this would have to do. Stepping back, Minato reached for the seal on his desk. "I've worked everything we've talked about into this seal, so unless you're leaving something out…" A pointed look, "then you will be back in your own timeline."

Minato handed the seal to Naruto and started the hand seals. He barely heard Kushina's sniffle, and if it wasn't for his need to concentrate, he would be over there with her, holding her and crying. As it was, he needed to focus on getting Naruto home safely. Because that's where Naruto was going: home. A flash indicated the seal activating. The light brightened until nothing could be seen or heard, except for a faint _I love you_ before the light was gone.

The spot where Naruto had stood was empty, yet Minato was still there; existing.

oOoOo

He was one of the youngest shinobi to ever become a Kage, but Naruto was not ashamed to admit that he was afraid. Once before this had been attempted, and it had failed then, what was stopping it from failing again? He was faintly aware of movement around him. He was afraid and he didn't want to face reality, but when had that stopped him before? Naruto slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the scene around him. He was in his own home, the one he had been given shortly after becoming Hokage. Nothing seemed to be different as far as he could tell, but then again in his mind that was over thirteen years ago. Sitting up, he saw who it was that was moving. Sakura and Sai must have seen him sit up at the same time, because they were both pouncing on him within seconds. Correction, Sai pounced and Sakura held him back so that she could look over Naruto for any injuries.

"How…How long?" Naruto was surprised at the rasp in his voice, like it had gone a while without use. But he had just been talking to his dad…

Sakura had tears in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. "It's been two weeks since you were found."

Sai nodded beside her. "You looked pretty bad when we found you. It didn't help that you were missing for several hours after the meteor hit. We thought you were dead." From anyone else this would've sounded sympathetic, but it was Sai, so really he was just repeating observed facts. And Naruto was glad for him to do so. These were his teammate's right here, and he was happy to see them again.

Adjusting to being back was harder than Naruto expected. He hadn't known if he would retain his memories, but now that he had, he wasn't sure it was a good thing. There were times when he would catch himself about to refer to something that had happened in his other past, then remembering that hadn't really happened. Except it did.

The hardest part was waiting for Kakashi to return from a mission. Of all the people that he had interacted with in the past before the other world was created, Kakashi was the only one left. He felt like he needed to talk with his sensei to hold onto the little bit of the past he still had. His memories were all that was left, and like all memories, he knew they would fade over time. It was another month before Kakashi returned from his mission. Naruto had been doing the paperwork that had pretty much become his job since he returned (being unconscious for two weeks does not mean all paperwork occurred over that time did not need to be processed) when Kakashi entered the room.

He was taken aback at first when he saw Kakashi's eye covered up. Of course, in this world Kakashi had the Sharingan and keeping it exposed at all times was draining. The momentary lapse in memory frustrated Naruto, for he thought he was getting better at distinguishing between memories. Always observant, Kakashi picked up on his mood. "Sorry I'm late, Hokage-sama, there was a traveling circus with a tragic lead that I needed to help."

Naruto couldn't help it, he laughed loudly. That was just what he needed to hear, and his sensei knew it. "No excuses!" Naruto couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He listened while Kakashi gave his report and turned to leave. While he was walking out, Naruto couldn't help but shake the feeling he needed to talk with his sensei. Kakashi seemed like the only person who would be able to help him understand what he was going through. Later, Naruto told himself. First he needed to finish all of this paperwork.

It turns out later was actually over a week after Kakashi first returned home. When finally, Naruto had time to look for his sensei, he was surprised to see that he wasn't at any of his usual spots around the village. He was walking back toward the Hokage's office when he realized the one place he had forgotten to look. The monument.

Sure enough, Kakashi was exactly where he always stood, looking at the statue with Obito's and Rin's names carved into it. Naruto was quiet in his approach, but he knew that Kakashi heard him. Once they were standing side by side, Naruto glanced over at his sensei, but he was still looking at the stone. Naruto respected his sensei enough to remain quiet until he was ready to speak. Time drifted, but for the first time, Naruto was not aware of its passing. He could have been there for just a minute, or several hours, but it would have still felt the same. No wonder Kakashi so easily lost track of time while here. An indefinite amount of time later, Kakashi spoke. "So what happened to you after that meteor struck? I was an unusual sight to see you unconscious, and I must say I was surprised when you didn't wake up after several hours."

Of course he would know it was related to that. "It's a long story. The short version is that a jutsu pulled me from here and sent me to the past. I met you and your team when they were about to test for Chunin." Naruto glanced at Kakashi, knowing he hated to talk about the past.

"You met Minato-sensei." Kakashi seemed awed. He turned so he was facing Naruto. "I'm glad that chance was given to you."

Naruto swallowed. "It was a great opportunity, but at the same time it caused trouble. I was there for a while, but when Minato tried to send me back, there was a problem with the seal, my fault of course, and I was sent to a second future that came about due to a tear in time." Okay, this was sounding ridiculous, but Kakashi was nodding like he understood. "I couldn't remember anything, it felt like I had grown up my whole life in this other world, and in a way I had. It was Obito that showed me the truth, and in turn, Minato made the seal to send me back here." Wow, that version cut out a lot of the pain that he actually been involved.

"Obito was alive in this other world?" Naruto nodded. Kakashi seemed to wrap his head around that. "If you don't mind me asking, what was I like?" Because Obito's death was so instrumental in who he became. Of course Kakashi would be different in the other world.

"The last time I saw you was the only time you weren't in constant pain. You had let the deaths that had happened around you harden you and it was like you were obsesses with following the rules. You were my sensei, and I will ashamedly admit that I didn't really listen to you, but you did have our best interests at heart. You were just afraid to open up. I think that you had spent so much time living in the past, that you had forgotten how to look toward to the future."

Kakashi nodded, taking in all that he could have been. He looked back toward the stone. "I always knew I was on that path. Up until the day Obito died saving me, I was consumed with what had been. Even afterwards, I struggled, but I was determined to live in a way that would honor him. There are times when it is still hard to live in the now and look forward to things, but Team 7 changed that. You, Sakura, and Sasuke gave me a new goal, which was to teach you how to be shinobi with their own way." Kakashi gave Naruto a small smile, though the only hint was a crinkle around his eye. "But that isn't what you are here to talk to me about, is it?"

Knowing that there was no way around it Naruto chose to just plunge ahead. "No, it's not. Seeing my mom and dad was great, being given a chance to meet you, Rin, and Obito then was great. I am thankful for the time I had there, but…"Naruto sighed, "what was the point of it all?"

Kakashi chuckled. "You're assuming that everything has a point. You say you were summoned to the past by a jutsu, your tone gives me the idea that it was by an enemy, correct?" At his nod, Kakashi continued, "Then I have no doubt that you participated in helping to end the war. Don't underestimate your time there because you didn't change the future. We've fought hard to be where we are now, and just coming and changing it would diminish all the effort we have put into changing our world. You ask for a reason, but does there have to be?

"When we fought in the Fourth Great War, was there a reason beyond us doing what we must? Is there a reason that the war happened? In a way, yes there is, there was a mad-man with a messed up sense of what the future could hold. He started the war in an attempt to destroy our future, but by simply responding to what was placed in front of us, we beat him. You were called back because of a man who wanted to turn the tide of the war, and you reacted to that situation. Cherish the memories it has given you. Your fight there is no different from the fight we had here."

Naruto smiled at Kakashi's reasoning. Leave it to his lazy sensei to figure out not only what was bothering him, but also a way to allow him to deal with it. "Besides," Kakashi surprised him by continuing, "You learned to let go, if your lack of reaction to me mentioning Sasuke is anything to go by. Naruto startled, surprised that he had missed that detail in his own life. But it was true. He had moved on. Like he had told Kakashi in the other world, it wasn't good to dwell on the past and miss what was happening right now.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto started to leave before Kakashi reached out and put his hand on his shoulder.

"No, thank you. I semi-wise shinobi once said to me 'Do you really want to go through life holding onto the past? There's no future in that.'" Kakashi was already gone when Naruto recognized the words.

**Semi-wise indeed.**

_Shut up, Kurama._

**A/N: Okay, wow, I can't believe this day is here. It's been a year since I started this story, and I cannot believe I have finally arrived at the goal I set for myself by completing it. I had a plan for this story from the start, but of course along the way the characters took over. Obito was supposed to be a minor character, and Kakashi was only supposed to be there to show the contrast of who he was and who he becomes. Obviously that all changed. But I don't regret any of it. These characters took on a life of their own, and I am so proud of where it had landed them.**

**A part of me is relieved to have finished this story, but another part is sad that I now have to say goodbye, to both my characters and my readers. I never thought his story would be so popular. I wrote a Narnia fanfic, and it received about 75 reviews and probably about 200 follows. This reaction to this story completely blew me away. You are all amazing. Thank you to everyone who has read this story, thank you for sticking with me and encouraging me along the way. I feel like I have grown as a writer, and it is thank s to the feedback that you have provided for me. **

**As a part of my thanks, I wanted to send you off with my best chapter yet. I'm not sure I accomplished that, but it is one of my longest, so you can enjoy that at least. ****To anyone with questions about this chapter, or is confused about something, please let me know and I will try my best to clarify it for you. **

**Oh, and the quote that Kakashi says was said by Naruto in Chapter 15 of this story, to anyone who was wondering when that was said. **

**I guess I should wrap this up, since I've probably lost all of you by now. It's hard to say goodbye. But thank you, and goodbye for now.**

**I leave you with a request to please review not just the chapter on it's own, but what you thought of the story as a whole. **


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